New Swedish Books, Spring 2018 1
5 Spring 2018 Kajsa Sundin (b. 1977) Because They
Wanted To Publisher Natur & Kultur www.nok.se Rights Natur & Kultur nina.eidem@nok.se Works Definition poems 2007 Because They Wanted To In contemporary Cairo, the middleaged therapist Tess mourns her dead partner. An encounter with BDSM-practicing Isabella and Rodrigo awakens an attraction that breaks through the apathy of grief. With short, straightforward, almost blunt sentences, Kajsa Sundin describes the subtle nuances and intricate shifts in the interplay between the three characters. What can they teach one another about tenderness and brutality? Because They Wanted To is about emotional transformations, grief and vulnerability, the points where the softest softness and the hardest hardness become interchangeable. The novel is also a literary study of the inherent paradoxes of the BDSM relationship. Subjugation can lead to release, the need for control to powerlessness. And it’s not always the one in the dominant role who wields the power in the relationship. Photo: Ylva Sundgren