Rødovre Blues Copenhagen Blues

Margrethe is an elderly care worker and she is sick of everything. Sick of social services, bureaucrats, and bus drivers. She has lost faith in humanity and has not seen her daughter in eight years – not since she left with the flatscreen TV and all of Margrethe’s cash.

Luka has once again cheated on an assignment at business school and receives an ultimatum: re-take the year or get kicked out. Instead, Luka walks out on his own. But where to now?

Goran manages a gambling hall. He takes care of both the slot machines and all the retirees who come to throw away all their money. But Goran is also a criminal, and soon he is faced with a life-changing decision.

Erik has lost his wife and is on the brink of losing his relationship with his teenage daughter. He does what he can to win her back. But he is not thinking as clearly anymore, and one day he loses his grip.

All of them have been sidelined, and all of them are determined to regain what they have lost. But can relationships really be salvaged when it seems like they are irrevocably ruined? And is there even the slightest possibility of getting a new chance in life?

Copenhagen Blues is a captivating, sad, and humoristic novel where four destinies are tied together.

Reviews

“The first chapter in Jonas T. Bengtsson’s new novel Copenhagen Blues sets a strong and unsentimental tone. /…/ When events culminate, [the main characters’] four destinies are linked in a captivating story that holds your attention until the bitter end. The scenery is always sharp, gray, and believable in Bengtsson’s work, and Copenhagen Blues is no exception; [the novel] firmly captures the social range of the suburbs. /…/ The strongest portrayal is the one of Luca’s tiny apartment, which encapsulates his fate. /…/ It may sound sad, but it really isn’t. Copenhagen Blues is the warmest and most cheerful novel Bengtsson has ever written, carried by passion and empathy for the main characters and laced with pitch-black humor. /…/ [I]t is difficult not to admire Bengtsson’s sense of dramaturgy, and in its poignant depiction of Erik’s relationship with his daughter, and in the portrayal of the stubborn and wounded Margrethe, Copenhagen Blues stands as a touching reading experience that fully showcases Jonas T. Bengtsson’s lyrical and powerful voice.”

Information, Denmark