Lamento

Lamento is the third and last novel in Madame Nielsen’s love trilogy that began with Den endeløse sommer (2014), followed by Det højeste væsen (2017). The novels are independent, the theme of love being the red thread that binds them together.
The novel opens with a room in flames, and fire burns throughout the narrative as an image of the all-consuming power of love: two young people meet and fall in love to the point of madness. Together they drop out of the real world; love becomes a dream, they get married, have a child, and all at once they are expected to live ‘till death do us part.’ But by then it’s too late, and their love becomes destructive, consumes them. The narrative is told by the voice of the female first person narrator, many years after the relationship is over. It is an elegy written in lamentation for their love, which was not strong enough to survive everyday life.
A novel of stylistic brilliance that is deeply relevant to the relationship(s) between life and art and our way of negotiating love.

About the author 

Madame Nielsen is the author to the novels Den endeløse sommer (2014), published as The endless summer (trans. Gaye Kinoch) in 2018, and Det højeste væsen [The supreme being] (2017), as well as the coming-of-age novel, Invasionen [The Invasion] (2016). Most recently Madame Nielsen published Monster (2018) to great critical acclaim in Denmark as well as Germany, where the author has achieved remarkable success in recent years.

Text translated by Denise Rose Hansen