New Swedish Books, autumn 2020 1
New Swedish Books 54 Tullia’s World Ingrid Elam’s
choice Women are almost invisible in ancient Rome and of Tullia we don’t know any more than that she died young and was loved by Cicero, her father. With a careful yet experienced hand Kerstin Ekman excavates a whole world around her. She allows us an insight into the conditions of women as they emerge between the lines of texts left behind by men. But she also gives us an insight into how these fates became crystallised seventy years ago in the mind of a young woman who read Latin in a Swedish small town high school, studying the Punic wars as grammar lessons rather than human tragedies. Tullia’s World is at the same time biography and autobiography, historical essay and wonderful reading. Here the author writes about history unencumbered by the conventions of school or academia, animatedly, captivatingly and thought provokingly. Kerstin Ekman Selected works Häxringarna 1974 Händelser vid vatten 1993 Grand final i skojarbranschen 2003 Selected awards Augustpriset 1993 Nordiska rådets litteraturpris 1994 and numerous other awards starting from 1961 Women’s Rome, 186 p. Kerstin Ekman Publisher Albert Bonniers Förlag Rights Bonnier Rights Eleonoora Kirk eleonoora.kirk@bonnierrights.se Photo: Bodil Bergqvist