World Experience: How Ethnicity Becomes Mainstream

Childhood in a psychiatric hospital

Carl Valdemar Henry Olsen (birth name) was born on 2 August 1950 in Copenhagen. He was a favourite child, though not planned, the youngest of four children. His great-grandfather was delighted to have a grandson in the family, the first boy to continue the tradition. The fact is that there have been seven generations of Olsen men running the ancestral home, and his grandfather was worried about the tradition being broken. Carl Olsen's father was a successful psychiatrist in town, so the boy's childhood was spent on the grounds of mental hospitals across the country. “My father was the most educated man in Danish history — five state exams and a conducting degree at a conservatory. But he dreamed of just sitting in his dressing gown, idling and eating pita bread with frozen lemon sauce," the writer said in an interview for Politiken, one of Denmark's oldest newspapers.

Families of employees often lived in the same institution where they worked. At the time, drugs had not yet been invented to treat psychiatric illnesses, so patients were placed ‘in a kind of cage on the grounds of the clinic to be out in the fresh air and surrounded by nature.’ “I still distinctly remember their screams. After the drugs were introduced, these people were able to move around freely and communicate with each other almost normally," said Jussi Adler-Olsen.

As a child, Jussi's father measured his IQ several times. The parent was surprised that his son started reading early, could easily play music and could hold a conversation with adults. “My father was a little worried about me, because he himself was also a gifted person, but felt that this limited him to some extent,” the writer noted.

In middle school, Jussi's writing talent was already evident. Teachers praised his essays and sent him to participate in writing contests. After graduating in 1970, Jussi followed in his father's footsteps — he studied medicine. But not only that. He also studied sociology and film production until 1978. Before his career as a writer, Adler-Olsen tried his hand in different directions. He owned an antique comic book store, invested in solar power plants, headed a publishing house, wrote music for movies, renovated houses, invested in the construction of energy-efficient high-rise buildings.

While still a student, Jussi met Hanne. She had grown up in Brazil. But when her grandfather fell ill, they had to leave. The family left the house, the nanny, the dogs, the toys and never went back there again. Henna was seven years old at the time. After they married and before Adler-Olsen's writing success, they changed 16 homes, each of which Jussi remodeled. “So for almost 35 years we lived in remodeling dust,” the writer joked. By the way, the name Jussi Adler-Olsen appeared just after marrying Henne. To his name, the future writer added the nickname Jussi and his mother's surname Adler. And decades later he joined Adler and Olsen with a hyphen to be at the top of the list in publishing catalogs.

In the 1980s, Adler-Olsen was a Danish peace activist. As he himself explained: he couldn't sit idly by. “I was afraid it would end in a world nuclear war. I couldn't look in the mirror if I didn't try to do something about it. When I first got involved in the movement, it was heavily politicized. It was important for me to bring something different to it, to make it non-partisan and focused on the core," Jussi recounted. In 1981, he organized the Peace March from Copenhagen to Paris, in which more than 10,000 people participated.

When Jussi turned 45, he was a wealthy man who ran his own publishing house. But one day he caught himself thinking that his job was too stressful and he had little time for his family. He went to his wife for advice: Jussi wanted to quit everything and start writing books.

Chronically disgruntled Commissioner Karl Mørk

Jussi Adler-Olsen made his debut in 1997 with the novel The House of the Alphabet. This is the story of two pilots who, during World War II, pretended to be insane in order to get into a mental institution and wait out the war there. In the detailed description of the behavior of the characters and the environment, which critics noted, the writer was helped by the experience of his psychiatrist father. But despite the love of critics, this novel did not make Jussi successful. He dreamed of taking this book to the international market and getting a film adaptation with American stars in the main roles. But that didn't happen. At the book fair in Copenhagen in 1997 at the publisher's booth was exhibited only one copy of the book, and that in the corner. “Then I felt small,” — recalled the writer.

In 2003 and in 2006, two more of his thrillers were released, but they did not bring international recognition. Then Jussi left behind the pilots of World War II, Iraqi intelligence, the murder of the wife of an American presidential candidate, turned his attention to his native Allred, the Danish commune in which he then lived, and came up with the legendary and chronically disgruntled Commissioner Karl Mørk.

In 2007, The Woman in the Cage, the first novel in the Q Division series, was published in Denmark. This is a department created specifically for Mørk, who was suffering from the aftermath of a tragic shooting. Merc was assigned to investigate old cases, at one time they were high-profile, but remained unsolved. As an assistant, Merc got Asad, an immigrant from Syria. The first case the new Division took on was the mysterious disappearance of a member of the Danish Parliament, Mereta Ljunggaard. She disappeared five years ago, but the search was fruitless. The case was closed and Mereta was presumed dead in an accident. It seemed to Merc that there was more to the case than just a fall overboard. As the commissioner investigated, he discovered that Mereta was not so simple; she had many enemies and secrets that could have been a motive for murder.

The novel's narrative is non-linear. There are two storylines that come together in the finale. This is the investigation of Mørk and Asad and the story of Mereta's disappearance, which shows what really happened to her.

Karl Mørk is charismatic but complex. Moreover, he has a prototype, even two. Mörk got his name from one of the patients of the psychiatric hospital of Father Jussi. “Mr. Mørk was not just a patient of my father's, he was also a good friend of mine. Many of the patients at the clinic were mentally ill criminals. Mørk killed his wife, but he was the kindest person imaginable. To me, he is a symbol that there is both good and evil in every human being. I try to show this in the character of the villains as well. I hope readers will understand what made the heroes of my books act this way and not that way. Using the surname Mørk together with the name Carl — one of my own — I honor the kindness that he always showed me, and the memory of my father, who taught me to believe that in every person lives a piece of good," — said Adler-Olsen in an interview.

Assad is the opposite of Merc. He is calm and poised. Despite his status as an immigrant, Asad is equal and full of dignity. He is the only one who can make the lazy and disillusioned Mørk want to test the most improbable hypothesis. Asad seems understandable to the reader, but he is not simple. He has his own secrets, which are gradually revealed starting with the first book of the cycle.

‘The Woman in the Cage’ is a classic Scandinavian noir. Gloomy atmosphere, psychological tension, exciting plot and a pinch of humour. Adler-Olsen himself said that without humour in thrillers is impossible, otherwise depression will strike. If in the first novels the author gave detailed descriptions, here they are much less. The reader's imagination ‘completes’ the picture, running a ‘film’ in his head. The writer calls this artistic technique ‘absent voice’.

The narrative of the novel is arranged on a serial principle. Each chapter ends in such a way that it is impossible to put the book aside and finish reading. It is interrupted at the most interesting point. Jussi Adler-Olsen said that when he writes, he always imagines the environment in which a person will read his book. Most people read before going to bed. To stretch the reading time and keep the reader awake, he uses the following scheme: he ends the chapter at the most interesting part so that the person reads a couple more pages of the next chapter, then adds a bit of humour so that the reader wakes up (which guarantees another 15-20 minutes of reading). And then it all repeats. “I don't use this scheme all the time, of course. But it works great for me," Jussi said.

After 10 years in literature, when he was 57, Jussi Adler-Olsen broke through to his readers with the book The Woman in the Cage. He was even more successful with the next book in the series, The Pheasant Hunters, which was published in Denmark in 2008. The Danish public finally embraced Jussi Adler-Olsen in a tight, tight hug. But that was nothing with what happened in 2009 when ‘The Woman in the Cage’ came out in Germany. Sales exploded like no other Danish author. “It was a crazy experience. I was everywhere. On huge posters. I was literally attacked by people everywhere," Jussi recalled of the presentation of The Caged Woman at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

The most amazing thing is that at that time, in 2007, Jussi conceived that it would be a series of ten books, and came up with a synopsis for them. All ten books have now been published in Denmark. But the story of Karl Mørk is not over. In March this year, the eleventh book, Dead Souls Don't Sing, was published, with a French woman as the protagonist. ‘It will probably generate a flurry of questions and ensure front pages in the newspapers,’ Jussi joked. Mørk, on the other hand, has retired and now acts only as a consultant. Incidentally, in his retirement he started writing books about Q-Division. Just like Adler-Olsen himself did.

The authors of the new book are the writers Line Holm and Stine Bolter, who have taken over the continuation of the series. Perhaps some readers will react negatively to the change of authors and protagonist. To this, Adler-Olsen joked, “And others might say, 'Oh, come on, they seem to write better than Jussi.' I don't mind at all if someone improves the work. It's a gift for me.” With the eleventh book, Jussi did not interfere, but acted as a mentor. But he did sneak some things into the book. For example, he insisted on making the beginning so that the reader wept in the first fifty pages. And he also participated in the development of the plot. And according to the contract he had the right to veto if he didn't like something very much.

Deathly ill

One of the reasons Jussi decided to continue the series was his terminal diagnosis. “I knew that many foreign publishers would lose significant profits if I was gone. I just couldn't let that happen. I hope people will realise that I did it out of concern for my millions of readers and publishers," the writer said. In 2024, he was diagnosed with myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow. Moreover, this is not Jussi's first battle with cancer.

Shortly before his fiftieth birthday, which Jussi was going to celebrate in Mexico with his wife, he felt that something was wrong with his body. He underwent an examination, and the doctors found colon cancer. In 2000, the writer underwent radical surgery, removing everything he needed for a full recovery. The second time the cancer returned a few months before the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2009, when Jussi was on the prowl. It was prostate cancer. Surgery was performed and the writer was advised to rest. But he kept working, published all his books on time and travelled the world giving presentations despite the catheter.

In 2011, at a routine check-up, doctors found Adler-Olsen had several scattered prostate cancer cells. He underwent radiation therapy and then chemotherapy in pills. The pills caused ulcers in his mouth. And it just so happened that on a radio show in London, those ulcers bled. He felt blood ‘just trickling out of both corners of his mouth.’ ‘It was very spectacular,’ Jussi laughed about that situation.

For the third time, the cancer returned in 2024. His career came to a standstill. There were no more autograph sessions, no more foreign trips to fairs and publishers, no more interviews. For the first time in 16 years of worldwide recognition, no one could wring a word out of Adler-Olsen. A whole part of Danish history seemed to have ended. His books sold a total of 30 million copies, were translated into 42 languages, and Jussi Adler-Olsen became an incredibly rich man.

In January 2024, he cancelled all meetings. In early February, he was invited to Scotland, where he was filming the British adaptation of The Woman in the Cage, which was released as a TV series at the end of May this year on Netflix. Jussi was going to Edinburgh. But the day before the planned trip, he was hospitalised. He spent almost six months in hospital under the assumed name Karl Olsen to avoid unnecessary attention. He suffered from severe pain and realised that there was no happy ending to his illness.

In the summer of 2024, Jussi returned home in a wheelchair. He is now devoting all his time to his recovery. He has lost 20 kilogrammes in weight and seven centimetres in height due to the loss of several vertebrae. He takes morphine twice a day and continues chemotherapy. He also has a dream of becoming a regular person. “Not old Yussi, but just like everyone else. To walk, to think, to be free. That would be great. But it will not happen," said the writer.

Publisher: ‘Azbuka’
Translation from Danish: Irina Streblova
Number of pages: 464
Year: 2021
Age limit: 16+

Ekaterina Petrova — literary critic for Realnoe Vremya online newspaper and host of the Telegram channel Buns with Poppy Seeds.