Popular culture has always been fascinated by spies – the "profession" has played the main role in books, films, and TV series over the past year. And in the current world situation, they take another step forward out of the shadows. At this year's Book Fair, a seminar is dedicated to three new non-fiction books about historical and contemporary spies, including Alexandra Franzén's "The Truth Shall Set You Free".
The sixth part of Denise Rudberg's novel series "Kontrahenterna" takes place in Stockholm in the summer of 1942, when the darkness of war descends over Europe. An unknown leak and a threatening diplomatic crisis pose major challenges for the inner circle at the signals intelligence center Karlaplan 4. Will the three female main characters succeed in exposing the spy who is sabotaging the Swedish intelligence service?
Depicting emotions
Rudberg believes that readers largely turn to the spy genre to understand the contemporary world we live in.
I am completely convinced of this, even if it does not differ so much today compared to before. Intelligence is intelligence and it happens in the same way as in the 1940s, she says.
On the other hand, she believes that modern spy stories differ a great deal from older, classic spy novels. Today, authors are better at depicting how important it is to create contact and relationships between people to exchange information within the intelligence service, she believes:
That's what I'm trying to highlight in my books. It's not very interesting to just read that a guy in a trench coat leaves a secret note on a bench in a park, it's too one-dimensional. Why he has chosen to provide information to another power, and what he thinks and feels – that's what's interesting, she says.
Own family
"Our sixth attaché" is, like the other books in the series, inspired by Rudberg's own family history. The three main characters Signe, Iris, and Elisabeth represent her grandmother, grandmother, and foster grandmother.
The most important thing for me has been to depict these women with great love. I want it to feel like these are people of flesh and blood who I love very much. If the books were to get negative reviews, it would feel like criticizing my family, she says.
Sara Haldert/TT
Facts: Denise Rudberg
TT
Age: 54 years.
Does: Author and screenwriter.
Background: Made her debut in 2000 with "Väninnan" and has since written over 40 novels, including the "Jidhoff series" about prosecutor's secretary Marianne Jidhoff and the "Kontrahenterna" series.
Current: With "Our sixth attaché", the sixth part of "Kontrahenterna". This fall will also see the release of "God save the queen", the third part in the book series about two female police officers in Stockholm.
