Frimansson, Inger 1944–

PERSONAL:

Born 1944, in Stockholm, Sweden.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Södertälje, Sweden. Agent—Salomonsson Agency, Stora Nygatan 20, 111 27 Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail—inger@frimansson.se.

CAREER:

Journalist, writer.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Little Nobel Prize, 1963; two Swedish Academy Writers' Awards for best Swedish crime novel.

WRITINGS:

Trots Allt: Samtal Med Föräldrar till Utvecklingsstörda, Rabén & Sjögren (Stockholm, Sweden), 1976.

16 kvinnor berättar, Stegelands (Stockholm, Sweden), 1977.

Dubbelsängen (title means The Double Bed), Prisma (Stockholm, Sweden), 1984.

Den Förtrollade Prinsen, Prisma (Stockholm, Sweden), 1986.

Den Nya Omsorgslagen, Handikappbyrån på Socialstyrelsen (Stockholm, Sweden), 1986.

Djuret under tummarna, Prisma (Stockholm, Sweden), 1989.

Mannen med barnvagnen, Hammarström & Åberg (Stockholm, Sweden), 1990.

Jag kan också gå på vattnet, Prisma (Stockholm, Sweden), 1991.

Handdockan, Prisma (Stockholm, Sweden), 1992.

Mannen som flö över bergen, Prisma (Stockholm, Sweden), 1993.

Skräpsommaren, Rabén & Sjögren (Stockholm, Sweden), 1993.

Soldaternas dotter, Rabén Prisma (Stockholm, Sweden), 1995.

Kärlek, trohet, vänskap, hat, Bonnier Carlsen (Stockholm, Sweden), 1995.

Stilla under regnbågsytan, Prisma/Vår Bostad (Stockholm, Sweden), 1995.

Där Inne Vilar Ögat: Noveller, Rabén Prisma (Stockholm, Sweden), 1996.

Fruktar jag intetont, Rabén Prisma (Stockholm, Sweden), 1997.

God Natt Min Älskade, Prisma (Stockholm, Sweden), 1998.

Mannen Med Oxhjärtat, Norstedt (Stockholm, Sweden), 1999.

Elden, Bonnier Carlsen (Stockholm, Sweden), 1999.

Katten Som Inte Dog, Norstedt (Stockholm, Sweden), 2000.

Mord i Midsommartid, Semic (Stockholm, Sweden), 2000.

Ett Mycket Bättre Liv (title means A Much Better Life), Norstedt (Stockholm, Sweden), 2001.

Midvintermord, Semic (Stockholm, Sweden), 2001.

De Nakna Kvinnornas Ö, Norstedts (Stockholm, Sweden), 2002, published in English as Good Night, My Darling, Pleasure Boat Studio: A Literary Press (New York, NY), 2007.

Svept i rosa papper, Bonnier Carlsen (Stockholm, Sweden), 2002.

Bebådelsedag, Stormdals (Stockholm, Sweden), 2003.

Mörkerspår, Norstedts (Stockholm, Sweden), 2003.

Ge mig en drink, jag är rädd!, Systembolaget (Stockholm, Sweden), 2003.

Inga livstecken, Bonnier Carlsen (Stockholm, Sweden), 2004.

Svarta diamanter, AlfabetaAnamma (Stockholm, Sweden), 2004.

Noveller för Värdens, Barn Informationsförlaget (Stockholm, Sweden), 2004.

Skuggan I vattnet, Norstedts (Stockholm, Sweden), 2005.

Mord i juletid, Semic (Stockholm, Sweden), 2005.

Ligga som ett O, Norstedts (Stockholm, Sweden), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Swedish writer Inger Frimansson was born in 1944, in Stockholm. She began writing at a young age and was the winner of a number of literary prizes as a child and young adult, including the Little Nobel Prize in 1963. She worked as a journalist for many years before delving into fiction professionally in 1984 with her first novel, Dubbelsängen ("The Double Bed."). Eventually, she began writing psychological thrillers and crime fiction. Frimansson is the author of more than two dozen books, and her work has been translated into several languages and published in Norway, Latvia, Holland, Finland, Denmark, Spain, Bulgaria, and Germany, as well as in Sweden and the United States. Ett Mycket Bättre Liv, or "A Much Better Life," is the story of a missing child. Four-year-old Angelica is feeling poorly at her nursery school, and so is put down to sleep during the school's tenth-year-anniversary party festivities. When one of the staff is called away for a moment, the little girl disappears. Frimansson avoids the cliché of the manhunt or the discovery of a body, instead focusing on the little girl's experiences after she is taken, and the emotions of the teacher who feels guilty for the child's abduction while in her care. Charlotte Whittingham, writing for the Swedish Book Review Online, remarked: "The character portraits are skillfully drawn and the individuals whose thoughts we follow are credible."

Good Night, My Darling is a tale in the tradition of Snow White, in which three-year-old Justine's mother dies, leaving her with her father, the owner of a candy empire, and a wicked stepmother named Flora. The twist to Frimansson's fairy tale is that a more-adult Justine seduces her hunter rather than fleeing from him or succumbing to his axe. Later in life, Justine takes her psychological issues in hand and begins exacting her own sort of revenge, making for a disturbing story. David Pitt, in a review for Booklist, opined that the book "settles into a dark corner of your mind and just sits there, hanging around long after you have moved on."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 1, 2007, David Pitt, review of Good Night, My Darling, p. 66.

Library Journal, March 15, 2007, Mary Todd Chesnut, review of Good Night, My Darling, p. 57.

ONLINE

Euro Crime Web site,http://www.eurocrime.co.uk/ (October 3, 2007), Diane Bane, review of Good Night, My Darling.

Inger Frimansson Home Page,http://www.frimansson.se (October 3, 2007).

International Noir Fiction Blog,http://internationalnoir.blogspot.com/ (March 11, 2007), Glen Harper, review of Good Night, My Darling.

Swedish Book Review Online,http://www.swedishbookreview.com/ (October 3, 2007), Charlotte Whittingham, review of Ett Mycket Bättre Liv.