Book club : ”Caesaria” de Hanna Nordenhök

This first meeting will be dedicated to Caesaria by Hanna Nordenhök, published in French by editions Cambourakis in a translation by Marina Heide. Published in Sweden in 2020, the novel was awarded the Swedish national radio Sveriges Radio Novel Prize. In France, it is part of the first selection for the Prix Médicis 2026.

Caesaria is not a little girl quite like others – at least, in the eyes of Doctor Eldh. For it was he who brought her into the world with a blade strike, at a time when gynecology was still only in its infancy. Living proof of his medical prowess, Caesaria must be preserved at all costs, especially from prying eyes. She will therefore grow up far from the world, at Lilltuna, a farmhouse surrounded by a forest. The glistening dew, the creaking floorboards, the scent of flowering shrubs or dead animals define for her an enclosed universe, as marvelous as it is unsettling, where the course of time seems suspended. Until the day Doctor Eldh invites a man with a troubled past to Lilltuna, whose brutality will shatter Caesaria's suspended life.

Born in Malmö in 1977, Hanna Nordenhök is a novelist, playwright and translator. Author of two collections of poetry and five novels, she has established herself as a singular voice in contemporary Swedish literature. Caesaria is the first of her books to be published in French. The novel has also been translated into English, Arabic, Spanish and Polish.

This session will be an opportunity to immerse yourself in a gothic tale about control, the power of words and imagination, and to meet other readers curious about Swedish literature. Discussions will be guided by Rebecca Hemmingsson, bookseller for many years at Bokbar, the Nordic bookstore-café nestled at the very top of the vibrant Belleville hill.

Everyone is responsible for purchasing their book ahead of the meeting. But don't panic if you haven't finished it in time !

Practical information

The meeting will take place in the reading room, upstairs

In French

Free admission upon registration