What We're Reading... Fine Gråbøl

We asked Fine Gråbøl what she has read most recently, what she is currently reading, and what she plans to read next.

Fine Gråbøl

Fine Gråbøl made her debut in 2021 with Ungeenheden (The Youth Unit), a novel about young people living in a psychiatric care facility, inspired by her own experiences. The book earned her Bogforum’s Debutant Prize the same year. She holds a degree in literary studies, is part of the writing collective BMS, and is currently available with her second novel, Hundrede børn (A Hundred Children).

What was the last thing you read?

All summer, I’ve been completely obsessed with the British author Barbara Comyns! Her novel The Vet’s Daughter from 1959, in particular, is still lingering with me. I think I’ll have to read it again soon. It’s a very strange and distinctive portrait of a teenage girl growing up in a brutal childhood home, with a father who is a veterinarian — meaning the house is filled with sick and ailing animals. Over the course of the novel, all sorts of things happen that I won’t give away, but I can say that realism slowly begins to slip, without the novel ever abandoning its solidarity with the teenager’s lived reality. It’s a hugely inspiring book.

What are you reading now?

As I’m speaking, there are four days left until my due date, so I’m in this very special, magical, and wild place where I know that at any minute now, the world could be turned upside down and I’ll give birth to my second child! On my bedside table is My Maternity Leave by Olga Ravn, which is perhaps more a book I write in than one I read. But I can recommend it to anyone with an impending birth! It means a great deal to me to have a place where I can, for instance, write down all my insane dreams, but also bodily sensations, thoughts, ideas, wishes. You don’t have to fill everything in — but when a need arises, it’s wonderful to have a book to write in. Especially for the future; I know how quickly so many things are forgotten.

At the moment, it’s also about keeping a steady head, because August is truly publication month! So many fantastic and important books are being released right now — it’s about not getting stressed, but simply taking joy in it. I also have A Minor Detail by the Palestinian author Adania Shibli waiting for me, newly published in Danish translation.

What will you read next — and how do you choose?

As I said, I’m heading into a special period that I have no idea what will be like! When I was on maternity leave with my first child, I read poetry by Rilke and Adrienne Rich while she napped, but this time I think I need a slightly different energy. So if we imagine the dream scenario — a baby who sleeps through long naps and breastfeeding that runs smoothly — I’ll leave the dishes undone and the laundry basket full, and instead read Sitt Marie-Rose by the Lebanese author Etel Adnan, which has just been published in Danish translation. And then I’ve also pulled Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë down from the shelf — I’ve never finished it, and that book really is required reading for someone like me.