New Swedish Books, Autumn 2018 1
New Swedish Books 10 Elin Bengtsson (b. 1987) The
Rose Regime Publisher Natur och Kultur www.nok.se Rights Natur och Kultur Nina Eidem nina.eidem@nok.se Works Mellan vinter och himmel, YA novel, 2013 Ormbunkslandet, YA novel, 2016 “ Society seems to be built for the kind of paired existence that Emmy longs for and Niko feels suffocated by.” The Rose Regime In florid romantic prose, Elin Bengtsson encapsulates heartache and a hunger for life. She portrays love as it truly is – just as complicated and intense as in real life: “I think about love, and how I believed it would be something different, something sillier, not like this, feeling like my body is the glass covering a trapped insect.” Though love strikes protagonist Niko like a revelation, she and her girlfriend Emmy soon turn out to have incompatible needs. One wants to feel free to come and go, while the other wants them to be absolutely devoted to and responsible for one another. Society seems to be built for the kind of paired existence that Emmy longs for and Niko feels suffocated by. The Rose Regime is about dissatisfaction with normative relationships and the desire for alternative ways to live together. Photo: Sara Mac Key