User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Therese Bohman has written a book that is so far from anything I've read in a long time that I hardly know how to categorize it. 'The Other Woman' is told by an unnamed narrator whom we follow in spurts throughout the book. She works as a temporary worker in a hospital cafeteria, where she meets a doctor whom she instantaneously develops a crush on. This seems all well and innocent until, as the story unfolds, we learn that he is married, has children of his own, and might not be the honest and virtuous man that we thought he was. Old enough to be her father, their lives begin to interweave and they must determine what the best course of action for their relationship might be.
Let me tell you, this is a whirlwind of a book. ...but in a good way.
Because it's not a lengthy read (approx 200 pages with large text), it's hard to tell too much without giving it away. Trust me, it's worth your time and effort because it's just so different. It took me a little while to get into - in fact, at about 40% through I was wondering if there was any point at all. But when the pace started to pick up, boy oh boy, it was all I could do to tear myself away for long enough to cook dinner.
I will tell you this, though: this was one of those books that I didn't fall in love with immediately. I found myself questioning what was going on, why the characters sometimes didn't make total sense, etc. But immediately after closing the cover and finishing....I just felt like I got it. Like all of the puzzle pieces that kept me from loving it DURING the read fit together so that I could look back upon it fondly AFTER I read it. Not to mention my love for surprise endings...
I believe that the story within this book is just the surface of what you can take away from it. It's also to teach us about perceptions - perceptions of ourselves, perceptions of others, perceptions of what we don't know, perceptions of the world. Everything that happens to us is shaped by the way we see it - sometimes even to our own detriment. They often say that "when one door closes, another one opens," but as we see in this twisted story, such is not always the case.
This book is art. It's not something that I would take to the beach as something to escape into for hours in the sun. No, this is something you spend a Saturday afternoon reading and then the rest of the next week thinking about. It was like going to a museum and seeing a painting that you don't quite get while you're staring at it, but once you look back you realize that it truly was something beautiful to behold. I can't compare it to anything else I've ever read, but that might be just another reason why I enjoyed it so much.
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Rating: really liked it
A powerful book and I gave it a 5. It’s a feminist text but some readers may not like the main character’s brand of feminism. It’s about love and sex, social class and status, wage-work and friendship.
We have a young woman (age 27) who is bright and ambitious and she knows she wants to be a writer. She has had some college and hangs out with other young women who went to, or are currently in college, but she’s temporarily on hold working in a hospital cafeteria. She’s trying to save money and thinking of what schools and programs to apply to. We never learn her name so I’ll call her “Ingrid” so I don’t have to continuously refer to her as the main character or the narrator.
‘Ingrid’s’ female friends are her age, single and mostly college-educated. But our main character rebels against what she calls in so many words, the ‘group-think of the sisterhood’ which always has the collective ‘right answer’ to complex issues. She had taken a creative writing class with a lot of women and she felt that other female writers felt ‘limited’ by the cloud of correctness and that there were things they could not say or things they could not write about.
“I am a failure as a feminist woman. I am a failure as a perfectly ordinary woman as well, I am too clever…I have always felt like a traitor. I am a traitor in every camp, because I don't really need other people. That is the greatest betrayal of the sisterhood, an awareness that you have no need for it.”
Ingrid also takes shots at the young men in this group. They say all the right things about feminism but don’t really want a liberated woman as their gf. And the say all the right things about social class too. But they won’t have a cafeteria worker as their gf.
Despite all this talk of limitation, the main character limits herself too. Ingrid does not discuss her writing or college ambitions with the other cafeteria workers because she feels it would be pompous. One day a group around a table doing a crossword is struggling for a word – she knows it’s ‘onomatopoeia’ but Ingrid won’t reveal that she knows it.
The whole social status thing comes out in the cafeteria. The doctors are fine and friendly with them. The docs know where they stand in the social hierarchy. She tells us it’s the nurses’ aides – who wear the same uniform as the cafeteria workers - who demean them and treat them shabbily to remind them who’s on top.
The author also tells us about the ‘silent majority’ (my characterization) lower middle class that our main character grew up in. People who got by, raised their kids, and had a good life despite financial constraints. They were not all spouse abusers, druggies and alcoholics.
Some Spoilers Follow
What’s also going on, and what becomes our main story, is that Ingrid has her eyes set on a married man, a doctor she sees in the cafeteria. She’s watching for him, chatting him up, getting rides from him to her apartment. Well it turns out that where there is a married man there is a married woman, and in this case, one with two kids. Ingrid knows what the sisterhood would think but she’s full steam ahead.
They get involved. She falls hard and starts dreaming of him leaving his wife for her. We may have heard this story before once or twice or perhaps 100 times. Ingrid makes a list of ‘rules for being the mistress,’ such as never adjust the passenger seat in the husband’s car because you’ll forget to put it back and ‘she’ll’ notice.
Ingrid has two main female friends. One is squarely in the sisterhood camp, the other is a freethinker like her. Is there some homoerotism going on between Ingrid and the latter? The free-thinking young woman has a secret we don’t learn for a while. When we do, the reader is as shocked as Ingrid and the secret shapes the dramatic ending of the story.
The author is Swedish and the story is set in the small city of Norrköping, a real place in eastern Sweden 50 miles or so from Stockholm. We read a lot about the city and its architecture and attempts to revive it from its days as a depressed former mill town. Otherwise there’s not a lot about Swedish culture except for some strange menu items in the hospital cafeteria!
The author must have an interest in geography because she’s spot-on when she writes things like this: “Back in the nineties ships were supposed to travel to the new Baltic, I don't remember where, Tallinn or Riga. Nobody used the ferries, and the plans were canceled after just a few trips. Nobody from a dilapidated harbor town wants to sail across an ice-cold sea to another dilapidated harbor town, they should have been able to work that out.”
The author (b. 1978) is a magazine editor who has written three novels, all translated into English. All are stories of younger women involved with married men. She has been critiqued for her ‘irreverent feminism.’ Perhaps she is best-known in the US for her debut novel, Drowned because it was picked by Oprah’s Book Club.
Norrköping: Top photo from visitsweden.com; middle photo from liu.se
The author from norden.org
Rating: really liked it
Some real twists.. kept me reading
Rating: really liked it
This book was fucking perfect.
sjdgiksdhuhgsfd I. just.
I don't know how to even write this.
I found this in the English Bookshop in Södermalm, in a "Swedish Literature" section. I judged the cover, as I am unfortunately wont to do -- but I mean, what would you think about a book titled
The Other Woman with that cover design? Thank god -- in the interest of finding some 'real Swedish lit' while in Sweden -- I read the back. And, you'll understand, I changed my mind.
And I've been disillusioned with my not-so-secret favourite trope, of late -- younger girl and older guy -- because it never gets pulled off quite right. The power dynamic is off; it seems forced or flippant; it ignores the complexity and darkness inherent to the whole situation.
The Other Woman doesn't do any of that. It hits every cross-generational note like a spire -- sharp, undeniably present, but slender and subtle. It hits every note it attempts like a fucking spire: the angst of the late 20s. Female friendship. The mutability of relationships. Class difference, the value of education, nostalgia. Family constraints, modern constraints. Independence & difference. Possibility and goals; whether they are achievable. The problematic layers of feminism. What it really means to be honest, or self-aware, or genuine.
And most of all: the confused, spinning portrait of a confused, spinning girl.
Our nameless (I JUST REALIZED??? what the fuck what the fuck THAT'S HOW ENGROSSING THIS BOOK IS I only JUST REALIZED the protagonist never had a
name) leading lady is a mess, but there were...too many times when I saw myself, word for word, in her. And parts of my closest friends. And parts of people I vaguely know. As she contradicts herself and rationalizes and tries to figure out what the fuck she wants, exactly, she resonates ------
deeply.
And her story, in barely 200 pages, shows -- does not tell -- more than I honestly thought was possible. Some books hit one note way too hard; some try to do too much -- rare is the book that artfully pulls all its topics together, gently, and leaves most of them up to the reader to pursue, in themselves.
I am in love with Stockholm, and this book is vibrantly what I am beginning to suspect is Swedish: rife, brilliant, steeped in history and tradition & cultural and class divides, sparse but seething, absolutely seething, with truth and the kind of sublime beauty you feel when you see the Northern Lights.
Fuck.
Rating: really liked it
A simple story with not so simple characters and themes. The highly self-conscious protagonist has an interesting perspective (coming from a working class but not dysfunctional background) on her affair with a well-off doctor, on others her age and life in general. The plot itself is not complicated but has a little twist at the end but the book is best as a source of reflection.
Rating: really liked it
“I think about the fleeting expression of disgust on Niklas‘s face when I told him about my job. Just as he is aware of the importance of women’s sexual liberation, but would never want a girlfriend who looked as if she was actually sexually liberated, he is aware of the concept of class. Even if he could discuss it at a party with a troubled expression on his face, it’s obvious that he would never want to be with someone who has a job he finds unpleasant. That’s the word he uses, unpleasant.“
The novel starts off simply as the viewpoint of a mistress- how does the affair start, how does she feel, how is she capable of doing these things.
But then there is a subtle twist, followed by another. Twist, twist, twist, until it is turned around and I was unsure how I ended up there. The story did not go where I expected it to, and I appreciated that.
“Good girl.” What those words mean - a good daughter, a bad daughter. A good woman, a bad woman. And how the definition of those words change over time, and coming from different people, yet the true meaning ultimately remains the same. “Good girl.”
Rating: really liked it
"Morals are for those who can afford them," I say.
Indeed they are here. My favorite part of the book is her talking about not liking the depictions of the working class and how they are always miserable and wretched. "I grew up with food on the table and an underlying sense of security, but with a lack of culture, a feeling that the world is small, that certain things are meant for other kinds of people." So taking up with a successful, privileged, married older man seems to be her way of having one toe in that very world she hasn't been exposed to but also resenting it. The writing is lovely, even if our narrator isn't. Her perception of the world and her place in it is very young and jaded. There is selfishness, but that's a privilege of youth- those of us with experience and years tacked on us 'can't afford it' in the same way some in this novel 'can't afford morals." She is numb and searching for something to pull her from her monotony, I think. She is not likable and I can already hear some married women judging 'the young tramp'. Really, isn't the man to blame-hmmm, just a little? Or a lot?
Things get strange when she meets Alex, who seems smitten with her. There is an erotic charge between the two women, but nothing is as it seems. There are times it's obvious she just wants to live what she imagines is an 'interesting' life. Being young, lonely, hard working, that's all common and such a waste of her mind and soul. This is a woman who wants to feel and live, really live- but may get tangled up in complications.
The ending may be predictable to the entitled, I found it distasteful. I wanted her to grow and change, and I don't feel she did, I feel she is worse off- more jaded for having rubbed shoulders and a whole lot more with her chosen 'lover'.
Maybe the conclusion she comes to is true of many lives. Maybe many people do make so many concessions in life that the fire dies inside. Maybe doors only open for some through deception- so many worlds spinning in all of us - the haves and the have nots and all those in between.
Not a happy read, but something about it pulled me in.
Rating: really liked it
The unnamed protagonist is The Other Woman, the one who starts an affair with a married man who could be her father. He is a respected wealthy doctor working in the hospital where she works as a temporary catering assistant. But she really wants to be a writer, she also wants to live, really live. Instead, she feels alone, pretty much all of the time. Translated from Swedish, I was expecting some atmospheric descriptions of places and people. But instead the first-person present tense narrative felt strained and the protagonist just came across as arrogant and egotistical. I particularly despised the way she was talking about the lady with special needs who worked with her in the hospital.
It's quite a short book, but I felt there was so much theorizing and unnecessary padding, that it would have worked better as an even shorter story. Let's face it, there wasn't much happening. The reason I am even giving it 2 stars is the fact that there were two or three good twists that I hadn't expected and that kept me reading to the end. Unfortunately, the end wasn't satisfying either. I had hoped for some personal growth, but the protagonist just remained this aloof person I felt no connection with. I kept wondering what had made her into this person, but I never found an answer. Not a happy read, maybe interesting if you're into extended debates about feminism, class and society.
But it just wasn't for me. Sorry.
I received a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
Rating: really liked it
Amazing. I kept waiting for the narrator to betray herself and start conforming to the general opinion of how to be, behave and react, but she never did. Beautifully written and perfectly structured.
Rating: really liked it
Don't assume that "The Other Woman" by Therese Bohman (beautifully translated from the Swedish Marlaine Delargy) will be a titillating tale of marital infidelity. Far from it. Instead this is a dark physiological study of a young woman who may well be a sociopath.
Our unnamed, first person narrator, is a young woman who works a menial job in a hospital cafeteria, but has high literary aspirations to become a novelist. She grew up, and still lives in a small college town in Sweden. As a narrator, she is my favorite kind of "unreliable"; she does not try to make herself sympathetic to the reader. She's completely amoral and she makes no excuses. She disdains almost everyone, especially other women (save one), and believes that to have feminine power is to do whatever one desires - regardless of the cost. She is completely delusional and she makes horrific choices. Does she do what she does to bring excitement to her mundane life - or simply have something to write about?
This is a spare story told with elegant prose and astounding honesty. 4.5 stars
Rating: really liked it
This novel bursts with intellectual prowess. It’s witty, provocative and thoughtful about money, class, what it is to have less and desire more, to be educated and smart but not particularly suited to anything. Swedish author Therese Bohman examines societal expectations of what makes a complete life: a good job; a happy coupling; a nice place. All the things by which we define ourselves but realize the innate superficiality of it all. If we focus on the having and not the feeling and the experiencing then we lack integrity, depth and strength of character.
A young woman works at the bottom of a hospital hierarchy as a kitchen aide. Of interacting with her co-workers, she comments: “To them I am someone who has been to college, unlike them, and that creates a distance.” She meets and begins an affair with an older married doctor named Carl Malmberg. While there’s passion and connection, she knows that he thinks her beneath him and will always feel that way. While this independent woman remains resolute in her thoughts and convictions, the relationship causes her to doubt herself and her future goals.
“Perhaps I ought to become a teacher or a librarian, surely not everyone who follows those career paths can feel passionate about them, they have simply chosen a route and followed it through, that is how people live: they make a choice and stick to it, whether it is a matter of education and training or a job or a partner. I have never been able to do that. I always think that I have an uncompromising attitude to life in that respect, an attitude that makes things difficult to me, but which I cannot talk myself out of. I have the same attitude about everything: people, clothes, literature.”
In embracing and exploring her femininity, this young woman questions feminism. Understandable that many young women think that to be a feminist one cannot also be feminine. She seems at odds with her peers in their revolt of certain “feminine” things. By such conscious questioning she’s defining her own version of feminism as every woman should do. It’s a myth that’s been carried throughout the years. She notes: “Femininity was an intricate network of rules with a minimal amount of leeway, where everything was unspoken in the bargain.” Then she says this: “I am a failure as a feminist woman. I am a failure as a perfectly ordinary woman as well, I am too clever—I said that to Emelie once when I was drunk, she got angry with me, really angry, she looked at me as if I was a traitor.” She may think this but in living as she’s living and in desiring equality and certain standing she’s without doubt a feminist. When a woman questions herself and her feminism, she’s inherently a feminist.
She makes an intriguing new friend named Alex. She confides in her about the affair. She remarks: “Talking to her about it feels sexy too, I like Alex’s smile because it is hungry and inviting, not in terms of eroticism perhaps but in terms of life, or adventure . . .” In both the affair and this friendship she’s discovering herself and blooming. Perhaps re-thinking her present situation and contemplating a writer’s lifestyle.
This is the best novel I’ve read so far this year. As someone who has yet to find her path, I completely relate to this character. She’s somewhat stuck at the moment but not accepting and not giving up. Also she’s by herself and isn’t that why we often read novels? If not to escape, then to find kindred spirits. She notes: “I am an expert when it comes to being alone. I have always been alone, because no one else is like me.” I think to myself: me too. It’s not the standard, predictable novel about an affair. It’s twisty and existential. I dare not give away too many details.
--review by Amy Steele, originally posted here: http://entertainmentrealm.com/2016/03...
Rating: really liked it
A rather disappointing read. It started of interesting, but gets dull very quickly, there are some thoughts about class consiousness and feminism, but they seem fairly artificial and forgettable. The twists in the story, are not really surprising, I rather found the novel very predictable.
Mostly i disliked the main protagonist, always unhappy and whiny, talking submissive, but acting self absorbant and arrogant.
As there are many parallels to Irgendwann werden wir uns alles erzählen; (both women fell for older man, both are submissive, both read Dostoevsky, both originate in lower class) i couldn't avoid comparing, as result i disliked this novel even more
Rating: really liked it
The Other Woman is one of those books that you think is one thing and turns out to be something else entirely. Going in I thought this book was about a love affair between a young woman and an older married man and, to some extent, it is but there was a lot more in there than that. I didn’t get sordid and guilt soaked romance, instead I found a deeply personal almost uncomfortable psychological thriller about a woman lacking complete sense of self. I enjoyed the dark aspects in this book and liked the story but failed to engage as much as I would have liked.
One of the reasons for this is the style of writing. Technically there is nothing wrong with it, Therese Bohman is an experienced and talented writer who clearly knows what she is doing and can build an interesting storyline and characters. It was just that the writing was not really to my taste. It was very sparse, cold even and was very much in the Nordic noir genre of storytelling. There is nothing wrong with that but I prefer my fiction to be a little brighter and more detailed. It did however create a good atmosphere that suited the plot perfectly. I found the book easy to read and thought it had good flow, however there were maybe a few to many periods for me to really get lost in the story.
The choice to have the main character as narrator and have her unnamed was inspired. It allowed the sense that the narrator was truly telling the story as she saw it, yet you are always aware that she is unreliable in her narration. The anonymity allows her to say things named characters might keep hidden so we can clearly see her contradictions and thought processes. This anonymity also allows the reader to put themselves into her shoes. To truly experience things from her perspective, it is an almost frightening experience especially when you can see the dark path she is heading down and she can’t.
When I first started this book, I was unsure if I would like it. The beginning was slow, but don’t be put off, soon enough the pace picks up. The plot escalates quickly and before you know it everything is spiralling out of control. The main character is interesting, she has no real idea of who she is or what she wants. As an aspiring writer, she feels like she needs to experience things to be a good author but her willingness to go to dark places leaves her open to manipulation from people she would least expect. I got the feeling that she was so desperate to be someone that other people wanted that she lost all sense of who she wanted to be and who she really was. This means that all her relationships romantic and otherwise are built on falsehoods both hers and theirs. You never know what is a truth and what is a lie or what anyone’s motives are.
The Other Woman is a clever and moody book about the dark sides of personalities and desires. It asks a lot of questions about morals and how far you are willing to go to find inspiration. I really enjoyed the twists and turns but would have liked a little more from the writing. If you are looking for a short read that’s a little different I would defiantly recommend this.
Rating: really liked it
Oh gosh, it was good
Like really really good
First of all, I still don't like the Main Character, she was naive and ready to throw fists with anyone who didn't share her point of view while doing the same to others.
This book shows something raw and real. No matter how many faults people find within themselves, how much they will hurt each other, they still cling to each other in some grotesque way.
I have a few quotes and sentences from this book which are simply beautiful.
Also the ending, literally the last few sentences in the book are something memorable. The perfect conclusion which maybe as stand alone don't say much but after reading the story we know how powerful the are.
I wish I could be able to discuss this book and it points with anyone. It especially got me thinking about how we aggressive we can be to anyone who doesn't agree with us about topics brought up numerous of times in society.
It was my first meeting with this author yet I don't think it will be the last.
Rating: really liked it
This turned out to be a slightly creepy book about a young woman in Sweden who sets her sights on a pliable physician.
