When Men Leave Me

Maria is a copywriter. She writes copy for low-quality products marketed to middle-aged men and she is really good at it. She knows her target demographic, their desires and their dreams. While Maria dreams of finding her own voice as a novelist, she dates and initiates relationships with various men.

When Men Leave Me is a darkly humorous novel about being a young woman today, about the body, gender, and sexuality. A critical novel about the hunt for love and the consequences of repeatedly having your boundaries crossed. About what happens when your voice disappears and the silence is interpreted as consent. Johanne Bille writes captivatingly and precisely about the nature of assault and losing ownership of one’s own body.

About the author 

Johanne Bille, b. 1993, was born and raised in Frederiksberg and holds a B.A. in political science. She previously worked at Forlaget Columbus and is the founder of Harpyie Press. She debuted in 2015 with the novel What if (Tænk nu hvis), a novel about the grief of losing one’s father. Her second novel Elastic (Elastik) came out in 2018 and has been translated into English.

Text translated by Sharon Rhodes