Picture of author.

Marianne Fredriksson (1927–2007)

Author of Hanna's Daughters

32+ Works 5,635 Members 113 Reviews 22 Favorited

About the Author

Series

Works by Marianne Fredriksson

Hanna's Daughters (1994) 2,142 copies, 44 reviews
Simon and the Oaks (1985) 889 copies, 17 reviews
Inge and Mira (1997) 434 copies, 13 reviews
According to Mary Magdalene (1997) 424 copies, 5 reviews
Elisabeth's Daughter (2001) 274 copies, 5 reviews
Nightwanderer (1988) 254 copies, 5 reviews
Sofie (1992) 186 copies, 4 reviews
Skilda verkligheter (2004) 181 copies, 4 reviews
The Book of Eve (1980) 152 copies, 3 reviews
The enigma (1989) 133 copies, 2 reviews
Syndafloden (1990) 113 copies, 4 reviews
Ondskans leende (2004) 113 copies, 2 reviews
The book of Cain (1981) 95 copies, 1 review
The saga of Norea (1991) 80 copies, 2 reviews
Children of paradise (1985) 70 copies, 1 review

Associated Works

Zimtsternschnuppen (2007) — Contributor — 2 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Canonical name
Fredriksson, Marianne
Legal name
Fredriksson, Marianne
Other names
Persson, Marianne (birth name)
Birthdate
1927-03-28
Date of death
2007-02-11
Gender
female
Occupations
writer
journalist
editor
Awards and honors
BMF-plaketten (1985)
BMF-plaketten (1994)
Agent
Nordin Agency AB
Short biography
Marianne Fredriksson (b. 1927) is one of the most prominent authors, not only in Sweden, but also in Europe. Her books have been translated into more than 47 languages and published in great volumes throughout the world. Before she embarked on her life as an author, Marianne Fredriksson had a successful career as a journalist on the newspapers Göteborgs-Tidningen and Svenska Dagbladet. Later on, she became Editor-in-Chief for the magazine Allt i Hemmet (Everything in the Home) and she also launched the successful magazines Vi föräldrar (Us Parents) and Allt om Mat (Everything About Food). She wrote her first book Evas bok (The Book of Eve) while recovering from a mid-life crisis, and in 1988 left her employment at Svenska Dagbladet to devote all her time to writing. Marianne Fredriksson died very suddenly on 11 February 2007. She wrote and published fourteen novels and a number of non-fiction books during her lifetime - all of which have enjoyed a large readership.
Nationality
Sweden
Birthplace
Gothenburg, Sweden
Places of residence
Gothenburg, Sweden
Österskär, Sweden
Place of death
Österskär, Sweden
Associated Place (for map)
Österskär, Sweden

Members

Reviews

125 reviews
Das Thema des Romans ist schnell erzählt: Die Lebensgeschichte dreier Frauen einer Familie in Schweden aus aufeinanderfolgenden Generationen, Großmutter, Mutter, Tochter. Daneben wird der Leserin und dem Leser in beeindruckender Art und Weise die Entwicklung der schwedischen Gesellschaft über zwei Jahrhunderte vor Augen geführt.
Beeindruckend finde ich wie es der Autorin gelingt, jeder ihrer Protagonistinnen eine eigene Sprache zu geben, die nicht nur die Zeit, sondern ebenso die show more Lebensverhältnisse widerspiegelt. Am Auffälligsten tritt dies gewiss bei Hanna zutage.
Hanna, die Großmutter, geb. 1871, ist sicherlich die Ungebildetste der drei. Sie, mit 12 vergewaltigt, schwanger und dadurch mit dem Makel als Hure gekennzeichnet, war von klein auf gezwungen, hart zu arbeiten um die Existenz ihrer Familie zu sichern. Nicht sie als Mensch war wichtig, sondern nur ihr Bemühen, ihre Arbeit, um ihren Kindern und ihrem Mann ein möglichst gesichertes Dasein zu bieten. Genauso stellt sich auch ihre Sprache dar: Keine Ich-Erzählung (statt dessen ein(e) allmächtige(r) Erzähler(in), schlichte, kurze Sätze, teilweise werden Wort- oder Satzteile einfach verschluckt. Nichts Überflüssiges, nur das Notwendigste. Alles was nicht unmittelbar dem Überleben dient, wird argwöhnisch betrachtet (lesen, musizieren, Zärtlichkeiten...). Es ist erschütternd zu erfahren, unter welch harten und zum Teil brutalen Bedingungen die Menschen zu dieser Zeit (und vermutlich nicht nur in Schweden) um ihre Existenz kämpften.
Ganz anders bei Johanna, geb. 1902 und Anna, geb. 1937. Beide konnten sich weiter bilden und entsprechend ändert sich auch die Sprache: längere Sätze, reflektierter, bei Johannas Lebensbeschreibung ist sie zudem selbst die Erzählerin. Was vielleicht daran liegt, dass sie mit sich selbst am meisten eins war.
Durch diese Wahl der unterschiedlichen Sprach-/Schriftweisen kommt man den Hauptfiguren dieses Romans trotz ihrer Unterschiedlichkeit und der Zeitabstände sehr nah. Und erkennt immer wieder, wieviel die einzelnen Personen mit ihren Vorfahren gemeinsam haben, auch wenn sie es nicht immer wahrhaben wollen.
Ein wunderbares Buch: eine warmherzige, liebevolle Familiengeschichte durch die man nebenbei noch viel über die Entwicklung der schwedischen Gesellschaft erfährt.
show less
Another modern Swedish classic I've meant to read for years and... holy shit (you'll get that later) it's good. A retelling of Eve's story in Genesis - her oldest son has just murdered her other son, and she runs away trying to find some answer for it, find an I Am to balance her husband's Thou Shalt, try to figure out what to do with all this rage and grief and guilt she's supposed to carry silently and why she can't remember anything from before she met Adam. It gradually becomes clear show more that this isn't a faithful adaptation of the Bible; there are other people there, some who have also started developing language - it's not a story about giving names to things, it's a story about giving them meaning. Come to think of it, this is essentially Auel's Earth's Children done right, and all in just 211 pages. show less
From the cover - blonde Inge is a native of Sweden, while dark Mira has fled there to escape the living hell of Chile at the time of the military coupled by General Pinochet. They are bought together by their mutual love of plants, but this gentle pastime is soon overshadowed by the terrible legacy of Mira's past. It is a legacy which will reach out to touch many lives including those of Inge and Mira's children.
I thought this a beautiful story of frienship between two mature women and I show more realised I have read little on the terrible recent history of Chile. In a short book, the author, conveys much about the culture of two very different countries and cultures. show less
½
I thought about this book rather a lot when I wasn't actually reading it. The setting is rural Sweden and follows two families whose lives intertwine from about the 1930's onward. Each family has a Jewish connection during WW2, but that's not really what the book is about. The families live in a neutral country and, as such, are observers to the atrocities of war, but that's not really what the book is about. One family is poor, hardworking and, eventually, successful, the other rich, but show more that's not really what this book is about. Each family has a son about the same age - one who is adopted the other whose mother is committed to a mental illness facility, but that's not really what this book is about either.

Rather, the book is about each person's reactions to and feelings about themselves, the people around them and the situations life deals.

I would definitely recommend this book.
show less

Lists

Awards

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Statistics

Works
32
Also by
1
Members
5,635
Popularity
#4,399
Rating
½ 3.6
Reviews
113
ISBNs
472
Languages
20
Favorited
22

Charts & Graphs