Caesaria
Winner of the Swedish Radio’s Prize 2021
“A novel as beautiful as it is unsettling. Hanna Nordenhök’s prose combines with singular mastery the density of poetry with the feverish atmosphere of a gothic tale.” Fernanda Melchor, author of Hurricane Season and Paradis
“I was astounded by Caesaria. It’s such a captivating immersive read, like falling down a rabbit hole of shifting impressions, small revelations and the unravelling of time itself. I’ve never read anything quite like this. Every sentence is a poem. The language is both furious and careful. The characters are grotesque and gorgeous. It’s a hall of mirrors bound up in a book.” Jan Carson, author of The Raptures and Quickly, While They Still Have Horses
“Nordenhök’s locked up mansion is a disciplinary system of supervision and punishment, a claustrophobic spectacle where death and disaster are indisputable components in the condition of being a girl. Caesaria is simply wonderful!” Johanne Lykke Holm, author of Strega
In 19th-century Sweden, Caesaria is kept in a doctor’s mansion as a trophy: she is the first baby to be born alive from one of his c-sections. In a Gothic ambiance, Caesaria narrates in first person her experiences in the mansion and her encounters with its mysterious inhabitants and visitors. Does she know where she comes from? Where is her mother? Is there a world beyond these walls?
Hanna Nordenhök masterfully blends the elements of storytelling with the history of gynecology, bringing to life the story of Caesaria.