The Polyglot Lovers
Lina Wolff
Original title: De polyglotta älskarna
Publisher: Albert Bonniers Förlag, 2016
Genre: Novel
Pages: 294 pages
Ellinor is thirty-six. She wears soft black sweatpants and a Michelin Man jacket. She fights. Smart and unsentimental, she tries her hand at online dating, only to be stranded by a snowstorm with a literary critic. Cut to Max Lamas, an author who dreams of a polyglot lover, a woman who will understand him—in every tongue. His search takes him to Italy, where he befriends a marchesa whose old Roman family is on the brink of ruin. At the heart of this literary intrigue is a handwritten manuscript that leaves no one unaffected.
The Polyglot Lovers is a fiercely witty and nuanced contribution to feminism in the #metoo era. Pleasure is an elusive thing, love even more so.
Foreign rights
Bulgaria: Perseus
Croatia: Naklada Ljevak
Czech Republic: Plus
Denmark: Forlaget Gladiator
Netherlands: Atlas Contact
Estonia: Varrak
Finland: Otava
France: Gallimard
Georgia: Siesta
Germany: Hoffmann & Campe
Greece: Psichogios
Hungary: Park
Italy: Codice
Macedonia: Artkonekt
Norway: Forlaget Oktober
Persian: Café 60 Media
Poland: Marginesy
Romania: Cartii di Stinta
Russia: AST
Serbia: Heliks
Turkey: Tetes Kitap
UK: And Other Stories (World English rights)
Ukraine: Vydavnytstvo
Awards
The August Prize 2016
Svenska Dagbladet’s Literature Prize 2016
PEN Translates Award