Boyd Tonkin

In praise of Tove Ditlevsen — the greatest Danish writer you’ve never heard of

The poignant Copenhagen trilogy describes her progress from slum girl to literary prodigy, before her tragic descent into alcoholism and drug dependency

Pick up a Penguin Classic from a cult Danish author who ‘struggled with alcohol and drug abuse’ and took her own life aged 58, and you may have one or two prior expectations. They will probably not include a flirtatious dinner with an enthralled Evelyn Waugh (‘so attentive and kind’) in a Copenhagen restaurant so quiet that ‘we could hear the thumping of ships’ motors far out on the water’.

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