I smiled and said thanks and ran on board my southbound subway-train. I had a bad day before that. I was in all sorts of pain. But then and there, the happiness was overwhelming and my tears flowed.
The life-lenght of books are generally all too short. To my joy, this principle does not apply to The Alchemist's Daughter, my fifth and most recent novel.
Yesterday, when I finally arrived home in the vast forests of Västmanland after a lot of travelling, I found a copy of the latest issue of the Swedish Book Review.
The brilliant translator Fiona Graham has chosen five pages from my historical novel, which is very firmly based on historical facts (I wrote my doctoral thesis on 18th century alchemy). The protagonist is Rebia Drakenstierna, a strong example of 18th century girl power. She has inherited a tremendous Mission from her alchemist-gnostic father:
To Annihilate Cosmos.
Follow her journeys through Europe, her visits in alchemical laboratories, her meetings with eccentric relatives, in her quest for the Philosopher's Stone: absolute power in the form of a red powder that glows in the dark.
I still have no foreign representation, but a beautiful solution seems to be on its way. Please contact my publisher at Natur & kultur if you are interested in my work: Nina Eidem. She can be reached at nina.eidem@nok.se. Also, feel free to write directly to me: cmedenborg@gmail.com
