Justine

November 8, 2016
novel | pb | 218 pgs
5.5" x 8.5"
978-1-940953-48-9

“When Mondrup’s prose is ablaze, cruising around with her inside a bruised and beaten artist’s soul is a veritable party. . . . By God she’s a great prose stylist full of character.”
—Politiken

Danish Women Writers Series

Stylistically provocative, Justine tells the story of a young female artist whose life is upended when her house burns down with all of the artworks for her upcoming exhibit inside. With little time left to recreate every-thing she’s lost, Justine embarks on a series of sexual escapades with a sort of doomed intensity that foreshadows the novel’s final, dark twist.

Through flashbacks and fragmented memories, we see Justine as a student at the Art Academy first discovering the misogynistic order that rules the Danish art world, and later on as she constantly challenges its expectations—both in the studio and in bed.

A personal meditation on artistic identity, creative process, and the male-dominated art scene, the novel veers between the erotic and the savage, resulting in a spellbinding read from one of Denmark’s edgiest contemporary feminist writers.  (Read an Excerpt)

Translated from the Danish by Kerri A. Pierce

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About the Author: Iben Mondrup is a trained visual artist from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts who is also the author of four novels, including Justine, its sequel, and Godhavn.

About the Translator: Kerri A. Pierce has published translations from seven different languages, including Justine by Iben Mondrup and The Faster I Walk, The Smaller I Am by Kjersti A. Skomsvold, which was a finalist for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

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“The novel positively emanates energetic prose, as suspense-laden tracks which retain our interest in the female Don Juan who insists on not being a female Don Juan are generously laid bare.”
—STANDART