Who Killed Bambi?

This novel is about the aftermath of a sexual assault. Published to great acclaim in the original Swedish, Who Killed Bambi? weaves together a complex network of causality and consequences. Fagerholm’s indicting, sharp prose leads the reader back and forth through time, abandoning linear narrative. This kaleidoscopic, elliptical approach shatters the facade of contemporary polite society, examining the sinister forces that attempt to maintain and protect the status quo in the aftermath of a violent event that shocks an entire community. Set in a fictional, affluent suburb of Helsinki, the main narrative follows Gusten Grippe, a successful realtor haunted by his role as one of the four teenage rapists, and the only one to report the crime and admit his guilt. When, a decade afterward, an acquaintance plans to make a movie about what happened, Gusten attempts to atone for his past in the face of the community’s stoic silence and misguided consideration for reputation. Released at the height of the #MeToo movement and translated into a dozen languages, Who Killed Bambi? remains highly relevant in a world grappling with the ubiquity of sexual violence, toxic masculinity, and gender discrimination. This deft and bold translation by Bradley Harmon makes the work available to English-language readers for the first time.