Another non-lesbian fiction by a lesbian writer

By Contributing Writer on Sunday, September 14, 2008 - 16:58

by BlackBox - Contributing Writer

Sarah Waters, our writer of historical fiction, announced just after the premiere of “The Night Watch” that her next book would not include any lesbians. If it’s still as good as the last one, I really won’t mind.

Apparently, there is another lesbian writer that has taken the same step.
Swedish Mian Lodalen has published her third novel titled Dårens Dotter ("The fool’s daughter”).

It tells the story of a girl, Connie, who is about to turn 7. A girl who doesn’t have enough meat on her bones and too many tangles in her hair. She is growing up at her aunt’s place, part of the new public housing program in Jönköping. Her mother is dead and her obstinate father only shows up when it suits him.

Connie can’t find a way to communicate with her father, who is both a fascinating yet repulsive person. Strangely enough, she one day realizes that she imitates his behaviour.  This is a crucial day in her life, as she knows from that moment onwards that the only person she can count on is herself.

You can find the whole description of the book and some samples here .
It’s a sweet and sour, funny and sad novel, very different from the two previous books by Lodalen, [Smulklubbens skamlösa systrar (“Shameless sisters of the crumb-club”) and Trekant (“Triangle”)]. It’s not only the lack of lesbians that makes it different. It contains more reflective and serious prose than the former novels and thus can’t be classified as yet another contribution to lesbian chic lit. In spite of the fact that it’s about a child and, later, about an adolescent girl and may be easily classified as a coming-of-age novel, it easily escapes any label.

Lodalen herself is a well-known Swedish journalist and writer, feminist and lesbian.  Her books became famous in Sweden and were sold to Norway, Denmark and Germany. We all hope the newest one will also hit British and American bookstores and that Mian at last will become an internationally recognized author.

Mian Lodalen admits that Dårens Dotter is strongly autobiographical fiction. Well then, does it really not include any lesbian aspects? Really?