New Swedish Books, Spring 2018 1
New Swedish Books 34 What Happened to the Childre
n? The author and journalist Eva F Dahlgren has written many books on repressed aspects of Sweden’s recent history. Her previous book, Fallen Women, was about prostitutes who were forcibly committed. But of course, these women often had children, sometimes infected with syphilis from birth. What happened to them? Building on extensive archive material, the author has tracked down two of these children, Rut and Kerstin. Through their life stories, a wider tale is held up to the spotlight, and all this is conducted without grand gestures. Part of the book’s power comes also from Dahlgren’s personal interest. It’s a careful examination of a dark legacy of 20th century history that affects us all. Here, the people who were deemed unfit to be part of Sweden’s Folkhem movement are given a voice. Eva F Dahlgren (b. 1952) What Happened to the Children? How Children Became a Commodity Publisher Forum www.forum.se Rights Forum karin.linge.nordh@forum.se Selected Works Det här är inte jag. En dokumentärroman 2005 Farfar var rasbiolog 1998 Fallna kvinnor 2013 Literary Prizes Göteborgs stads författarstipendium 2006 Wahlström & Widstrands litteraturpris 2012 Photo: Ola Kjelbye