Olipa hieno! Ihanaa kieltä ja kerronta oli kaunista ja suoraa.

I adored this 99 page memoir, the first volume of Tove Ditlevsen’s Copenhagen Trilogy and translated from Danish by Tiina Nunnally! Although written and published decades before, there are many parallels to Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend. Fans of one will likely be fans of the other (though this one is much quicker).

The book starts out with Tove at 5 years old, living in Copenhagen. I love the writing in these first few chapters, either because of the straightforwardness that writing as a 5 year old child provides, or as the result of this being a translated text. I am also lucky that I read this while I was in Copenhagen, staying a block away from her school and able to walk the same streets she wrote about. This likely impacted my rating:)

I truly enjoyed reading her perspective on her childhood, on growing up poor, on being different, and her relationships with others. Her poems, sprinkled thoughtfully throughout the book, were beautiful. How can someone so young have such deep and expressive emotions?

Also I love the name Tove. Can’t wait to read the next installment, Youth, to hear how she grows up post-Confirmation.