![]() Unge’s stories portray a cityscape that is perpetually cloaked in winter and where sex, violence, drugs and poverty are symptoms of alienation and estrangement. In ‘Four Hundred Kronor,’ the opening lines describe the protagonist’s coat, as it ‘swung round her legs,’ and ‘her handbag gleaming and the hand that held it hard.’ There are flashes of vivid visual brilliance. ![]() Her narrative mimics the fractured emotional world of her female protagonists, who are mainly weary and vulnerable, out of sorts with themselves and the people around them. The prose is sharp and abrupt and Unge does away with conventional rules of punctuation or dialogue. Largely written as first-person narratives, they articulate the female adolescent view on life and relationships. The sixteen stories that make up the collection bear striking similarities and preoccupations. Mirja Unge’s debut collection of short stories achieved considerable success when it was published in Sweden. ![]()
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