Iron Lung

Beskrivelse

Set against the backdrop of the polio epidemic in the early 1950s, this novel follows a girl who becomes paralyzed and reliant on an iron lung for survival. Meanwhile, decades earlier near Budapest, a child known only as 'Boy' grows up in a boys' orphanage, embodying a mysterious identity beyond traditional gender norms.

A haunting tale of connection and identity spanning time and place.

During the frightening polio outbreak of the 1950s, a young girl in Copenhagen finds herself unable to breathe unaided and is confined to an iron lung in the hospital. At the same time, but forty years earlier near Budapest, a child called 'Boy' lives in a boys’ orphanage. Unlike the other children, Boy’s body defies easy classification as male or female.

Between these two young individuals exists a profound and mysterious bond that transcends both time and distance. Kirstine Reffstrup’s writing captures this connection with poetic clarity and precision, weaving together history and queer storytelling.

Jonas Eika, author of After the Sun, describes the book as a vivid and moving exploration of life lived on the margins, filled with both violence and a yearning for embodiment and connection. Iron Lung is a unique novel that blends historical reality with a compelling, otherworldly narrative.

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