Published in 2019, ‘Vem dödade bambi?‘ (‘Who killed Bambi?’) is a Swedish language novel by Finnish author Monika Fagerholm that won the ‘Nordic Council Literature Prize‘ in 2020. Monika Kristina Fagerholm (born 26 February 1961 in Helsinki) is a Swedish-speaking Finnish author living in Ekenäs, Finland. Fagerholm has studied psychology and literature at the University of Helsinki: she made her debut in 1987 with ‘Sham’ but her real breakthrough was in 1994 with ‘Underbara kvinnor vid vatten’, nominated for the ‘Finlandia Prize‘ (the biggest literary prize in Finland). It was also nominated in Sweden for the ‘August Prize’ (1995), and also the ‘International Dublin Literary Award’ (1998). In 1994, she received the ‘Runeberg Award’ in Finland. The movie adaptation of the novel by Claes Olsson premiered in 1998. Monika Fagerholm also received the 2005 ‘August prize’ for ‘Den amerikanska flickan’ (‘The American Girl’). ‘Vem dödade bambi?‘ (‘Who killed Bambi?’) is a stylised tale of morality written with fervent energy: a gang rape is committed by a group of well-to-do youths in the bourgeois suburb of Villastaden outside Helsinki. Fagerholm’s focus is not the victim but the perpetrators and what takes place before and after the rape, especially the parent generation’s efforts to smooth everything over afterwards. This gives her an excellent opportunity to demonstrate her exacting social satire: the language lurches forwards, then crackles with sheer power before turning into a melancholic incantation. Gusten Grippe, the only perpetrator to admit his guilt, becomes a counterforce to the dark hollowness from the room where the attack took place.
