In nineteenth century Sweden, gynaecology is an emerging discipline. The female body appears as a cryptic landscape to be intruded, invaded, and controlled. A baby is carved out from her mother’s body by a renowned obstetrician, who decides to keep her as his own creation. He names her Caesaria. Under constant supervision, she will live a dolls house existence in the doctor’s mansion, subject to systems of control and punishment, unaware of the outside world, an existence which will eventually reach an eerie finale.
Hanna Nordenhök was awarded Swedish Radio’s Literary Prize for her 2020 novel Caesaria. You can listen to a fascinating interview with her about the book here, and this review definitely piqued my interest even further.
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