Overview

This novel is about the aftermath of a sexual assault. Published to great acclaim in the original Swedish, Who Killed Bambi? weaves together a complex network of causality and consequences. Fagerholm’s indicting, sharp prose leads the reader back and forth through time, abandoning linear narrative. This kaleidoscopic, elliptical approach shatters the facade of contemporary polite society, examining the sinister forces that attempt to maintain and protect the status quo in the aftermath of a violent event that shocks an entire community. Set in a fictional, affluent suburb of Helsinki, the main narrative follows Gusten Grippe, a successful realtor haunted by his role as one of the four teenage rapists, and the only one to report the crime and admit his guilt. When, a decade afterward, an acquaintance plans to make a movie about what happened, Gusten attempts to atone for his past in the face of the community’s stoic silence and misguided consideration for reputation. Released at the height of the #MeToo movement and translated into a dozen languages, Who Killed Bambi? remains highly relevant in a world grappling with the ubiquity of sexual violence, toxic masculinity, and gender discrimination. This deft and bold translation by Bradley Harmon makes the work available to English-language readers for the first time.

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9780299355944

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Reviews

Praise for the Swedish-language edition: “I’m absolutely crazy about this novel. . . . A stylistic masterpiece.”—Information “[An] astonishing novel. . . . [Fagerholm’s] style is evocative, agitative, flowing . . . merciless in her portrayal of human hypocrisy, whilst also writing insightfully in a number of side stories about love and friendship. . . . No one [in Who Killed Bambi?] is capable of putting themselves in another person’s shoes. But Monika Fagerholm is. And she does it with bite and wit.”—Politiken “There are some things that should never change in this world. Monika Fagerholm’s prose is one of them.”—Helsingin Sanomat “Fagerholm writes in an explosive and suggestive prose. . . . A complex, mythological and explosive novel. . . . A furious, scorching and pounding depiction of failed youths in an upper-class reality.”—Kristeligt Dagblad “Brutal, harrowing and magnificently intense novel. . . . Fagerholm masterfully succeeds in portraying the chain of lies, denials, excuses and circumvention mechanisms that the rape sets into motion. . . . Despite the gloomy theme, the book is definitely not without humor—of the bitter and sharp kind. . . . A reading experience of the highest quality.”—Verdens Gang “Fagerholm’s language is fearsomely creative and playful. . . . She is also bitingly ironic in her depiction of suburbia’s bourgeois snobbery—there’s plenty of class-conscious social criticism to be had here. Fagerholm’s dark, funny and fascinating novel strikingly hints at what will ultimately be killed, and why.”—Dagbladet “An intricate novel tuned with a quiet rage. Only a great author knows how to generate such linguistic energy.”—Dagens Nyheter “The fantastic and fairy tale-like goes hand in hand with the horrific in a tale wherein Fagerholm shows how destructive it can be to wrap oneself in sorrow and pain, for the individual as well as a community at large.”—Svenska YLE

Praise for the Swedish-language edition: ""I'm absolutely crazy about this novel. . . . A stylistic masterpiece.""--Information ""[An] astonishing novel. . . . [Fagerholm's] style is evocative, agitative, flowing . . . merciless in her portrayal of human hypocrisy, whilst also writing insightfully in a number of side stories about love and friendship. . . . No one [in Who Killed Bambi?] is capable of putting themselves in another person's shoes. But Monika Fagerholm is. And she does it with bite and wit.""--Politiken ""There are some things that should never change in this world. Monika Fagerholm's prose is one of them.""--Helsingin Sanomat ""Fagerholm writes in an explosive and suggestive prose. . . . A complex, mythological and explosive novel. . . . A furious, scorching and pounding depiction of failed youths in an upper-class reality.""--Kristeligt Dagblad ""Brutal, harrowing and magnificently intense novel. . . . Fagerholm masterfully succeeds in portraying the chain of lies, denials, excuses and circumvention mechanisms that the rape sets into motion. . . . Despite the gloomy theme, the book is definitely not without humor--of the bitter and sharp kind. . . . A reading experience of the highest quality.""--Verdens Gang ""Fagerholm's language is fearsomely creative and playful. . . . She is also bitingly ironic in her depiction of suburbia's bourgeois snobbery--there's plenty of class-conscious social criticism to be had here. Fagerholm's dark, funny and fascinating novel strikingly hints at what will ultimately be killed, and why.""--Dagbladet ""An intricate novel tuned with a quiet rage. Only a great author knows how to generate such linguistic energy.""--Dagens Nyheter ""The fantastic and fairy tale-like goes hand in hand with the horrific in a tale wherein Fagerholm shows how destructive it can be to wrap oneself in sorrow and pain, for the individual as well as a community at large.""--Svenska YLE

Author Information

Monika Fagerholm is a prize-winning writer who is regarded as one of Scandinavia’s finest literary authors. Three of her other novels have previously been translated into English: The American Girl, The Glitter Scene, and Wonderful Women by the Sea. She was awarded the Swedish Academy’s Nordic Prize in 2016. She lives in Finland. Bradley Harmon is a translator and scholar of Nordic and German literature. His translated books include poetry collections by Katarina Frostenson and LÍv Maria RÓadÓttir JÆger and biographies of Avicii and BjÖrn Borg. His translations have appeared in Poetry, Denver Quarterly, Swedish Book Review, and Best Literary Translations 2025, among other publications.

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