A moving novel that shows the radical change in a cynical writer's worldview after experiencing firsthand the drama of illegal immigration. The life of the celebrated Swedish poet Jesper Humlin is as privileged as it is empty, immersed in a vacuity barely seasoned by quarrels with his partner, the envy of his colleagues, and the urgency of his editors. However, perhaps Jesper retains a shred of dignity by rejecting his editor's proposal that he write detective novels, which sell fifty times more than poetry (even his elderly mother has started writing one!). And perhaps that vestige of decency also sparks his interest in the lives of some immigrants who attend a public reading of his poetry. Thanks to them, Jesper will learn firsthand about the humiliations suffered by those who emigrate to Europe in search, paradoxically, of freedom. But, above all, the story of Tea-Bag, a young African woman who recounts her escape from her village, the journey north – with an obligatory "stopover" on the Spanish coasts – and her arrival in Sweden, will be what ultimately unsettles the fatuous Jesper.
Tea-Bag
Year
2001
Pages
329
Description
A moving novel that shows the radical change in a cynical writer's worldview after experiencing firsthand the drama of illegal immigration. The life of the celebrated Swedish poet Jesper Humlin is as privileged as it is empty, immersed in a vacuity barely seasoned by quarrels with his partner, the envy of his colleagues, and the urgency of his editors. However, perhaps Jesper retains a shred of dignity by rejecting his editor's proposal that he write detective novels, which sell fifty times more than poetry (even his elderly mother has started writing one!). And perhaps that vestige of decency also sparks his interest in the lives of some immigrants who attend a public reading of his poetry. Thanks to them, Jesper will learn firsthand about the humiliations suffered by those who emigrate to Europe in search, paradoxically, of freedom. But, above all, the story of Tea-Bag, a young African woman who recounts her escape from her village, the journey north – with an obligatory "stopover" on the Spanish coasts – and her arrival in Sweden, will be what ultimately unsettles the fatuous Jesper.
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