''Flowering Nettle'' ( sv, Nässlorna blomma) is a partly

autobiographical novel An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction. ...

written by the Swedish

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...

Harry Martinson Harry Martinson (6May 190411February 1978) was a Swedish writer, poet and former sailor. In 1949 he was elected into the Swedish Academy. He was awarded a joint 1974 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1974 together with fellow ...

in 1935 and first translated into English by

Naomi Walford Naomi or Naomie may refer to: People and biblical figures * Naomi (given name), a female given name and a list of people with the name * Naomi (biblical figure), Ruth's mother-in-law in the Old Testament Book of Ruth * Naomi (Romanian singer) (bo ...

in 1936. Article by Ann-Marie Vinde, Swedish Book Review, issue 2004:1 The book tells the story of the orphan child Martin, who is Harry Martinson's

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

and is written from the perspective of the child. Martin's father dies and his mother leaves her children for a new life in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Everything he holds dear disappear at a very early age and he grows up working in several farms and being sent away or going himself away, as he faces the harsh working life of the farmhand. Martin is described as a selfish, stupid, childish, selfpitying, obsequious, coward and false. Thus, there is no idealisation of the child.Peterzén, Ingvar: Nässlorna Blomma, Bonniers Svenska bokförlaget, Stockholm 1962 The language in the novel has been described as knowingly childlike. ''Flowering Nettle'' and its continuation '' The way out'' are partly autobiographical and show the hard and unsafe existence of an orphan child among the destitute in Sweden at the beginning of the 20th century.

References

Swedish literature Swedish non-fiction literature Works by Harry Martinson Novels about orphans 1935 Swedish novels Novels set in Sweden Swedish-language novels {{1930s-novel-stub