Antiquity

Elegant, slippery, and provocative, Antiquity is a queer Lolita story by prize-winning Swedish author Hanna Johansson - a story of desire, power, obsession, observation, and taboo.

Antiquity follows its unnamed narrator, a lonely woman in her thirties who becomes enamoured of a chic older artist, Helena, after interviewing her for a magazine. Helena invites the narrator to join her in the Greek city of Ermoupoli where she summers with her teenage daughter Olga. At first an object of jealousy, Olga morphs into an object of desire as the pull of Helena is transposed onto her daughter and the prospect of becoming someone's first, if perverse, lover.

With echoes of Death in Venice, Call Me by Your Name, The Lover, and Lolita, but wholly original and contemporary, Antiquity probes the depths of memory, power, and the narratives that arrange our experience of the world.

About the author

Hanna Johansson began her writing career as a critic and essayist covering topics like fashion, literature, art, and performance, and currently works as the art editor at the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. Her debut novel, Antiquity, was awarded the Katapultpriset Prize in 2021.

Kira Josefsson is a writer and translator working between English and Swedish. She is the recipient of grants from the PEN/Heim Translation Fund and the Swedish Arts Council. She writes about the intersection of politics, literature, and identity for both Swedish and English-language publications.

Product details

• Authors: Hanna Johansson, Johansson Hanna
• Assisted by: Kira Josefsson (Translation)
• Publisher: Faber Factory Plus GBS
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 18.07.2024
• EAN: 9781915590596
• ISBN: 978-1-915590-59-6
• No. of pages: 224
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; Romance, Adult & contemporary romance, FICTION / Psychological, Fiction in translation, Of specific Lesbian interest, Narrative theme: Interior life, Contemporary lifestyle fiction, Relating to lesbians, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, FICTION / Erotica / LGBTQ+ / Lesbian