''The Copenhagen Trilogy'' is a series of

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

s by Danish author

Tove Ditlevsen Tove Irma Margit Ditlevsen (14 December 1917 – 7 March 1976) was a Danish poet and author. With published works in a variety of genres, she was one of Denmark's best-known authors by the time of her death. Life Tove Ditlevsen was born i ...

. The books were first released in Denmark between 1967 and 1971 under the titles ''Childhood'' ( da, Barndom), ''Youth'' ( da, Ungdom) and ''Dependency'' ( da, Gift — Gift is the Danish word for both the adjective "married" and the noun "poison"). The first two volumes were translated by

Tiina Nunnally Tiina Nunnally (born August 7, 1952) is an American author and translator. Early life and education Nunnally was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and St. Louis Park, Minnesota. She was an AFS exchange student to ...

and issued in 1985 by the feminist publisher Seal Press, under the title ''Early Spring''. In 2019 the complete trilogy, with the third part translated by

Michael Favala Goldman Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel) Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El ...

, was published as three individual books by

Penguin Classics Penguin Classics is an imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean among other languages. Literary critics see books in this series as important members of the Western ...

in the UK under the titles ''Childhood'', ''Youth'' and ''Dependency''. The memoirs were collectively called ''The Copenhagen Trilogy''.

Reception

The reissue of the memoirs in English was welcomed with critical praise. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' reviewed the series twice, calling it a "mordant, vibrantly confessional autobiographical work". A second review praised it as "raw and poignant" and compared the memoirs to

Janet Frame Janet Paterson Frame (28 August 1924 – 29 January 2004) was a New Zealand author. She was internationally renowned for her work, which included novels, short stories, poetry, juvenile fiction, and an autobiography, and received numerous awar ...

's autobiographical trilogy ''

An Angel at My Table ''An Angel at My Table'' is a 1990 biographical drama film directed by Jane Campion. The film is based on Janet Frame's three autobiographies, ''To the Is-Land'' (1982), ''An Angel at My Table'' (1984), and ''The Envoy from Mirror City'' (1984) ...

''. ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' called the trilogy "sharp, tough and tender". The trilogy was selected for the ''

New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

''s "10 Best Books of 2021" list.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Copenhagen Trilogy Literary trilogies Danish memoirs 20th-century Danish literature 1967 non-fiction books 1971 non-fiction books