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The Woman From Bratislava
Spring 1999. NATO is bombing Yugoslavia when the impossible happens. One of their indestructible fighter planes is shot down. Someone has obviously been leaking information
440 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
9 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
Leif Davidsen
71 books66 followersEducated as a journalist, in 1977 he started working in Spain as a freelance journalist for Danmarks Radio. In 1980 he began covering Soviet news with frequent news reports to Danmarks Radio from Russia. From 1984 to 1988 he was stationed in Moscow. As a journalist he has travelled extensively around the world. When Davidsen returned to Denmark he became chief editor of Danmarks Radio's foreign news desk. From 1996 he edited a TV series called “Danish Dream” about Denmark today. In 1991 he won the Danish booksellers award De Gyldne Laurbær (The Golden Laurel) for his book Den sidste spion.[1] In 1999, he became a full-time writer.
Leif Davidsen (f. 1950) er uddannet journalist og fra 1984-1988 DR´s korrespondent i Moskva. Har rejst over det meste af verden som udenrigskorrespondent. Han debuterede som forfatter i 1984 og har udgivet en rejsebog, to novellesamlinger og elleve romaner, der er oversat til femten sprog. Leif Davidsen er en af Danmarks mest populære og læste forfattere.
Leif Davidsen (f. 1950) er uddannet journalist og fra 1984-1988 DR´s korrespondent i Moskva. Har rejst over det meste af verden som udenrigskorrespondent. Han debuterede som forfatter i 1984 og har udgivet en rejsebog, to novellesamlinger og elleve romaner, der er oversat til femten sprog. Leif Davidsen er en af Danmarks mest populære og læste forfattere.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 22, 2019
This is a really, really terrible book. I seriously considered putting it down halfway through, and in hindsight, I regret not doing so. The first section from Teddy’s POV was interesting, and I found the plot intriguing enough to want to continue, but the book only went downhill.
The casual sexism and objectification of women abounds, and is injected so frequently into the narrative, and with so little reason, that it cannot be ignored. When we *finally* hear from Irma, I was enraged by how poorly her POV was written. The women in the story are flat and lifeless, only serving as a backdrop for the strong men this author clearly gets off on: the charismatic, twice-divorced academic chasing younger women, the strong, silent intelligence officer unable to meaningfully connect with his pregnant wife, the misunderstood Nazis.. please.
Much of the same could be said for the reductive treatment of the Balkans. More stereotypes, nothing original observed, and all leaving a disappointing taste behind. I had hoped to find a thriller that could honestly engage with a complicated region without relying on cliches. But even leaving that aside, there is nothing redeeming in either characters or plot that could make up for the book’s many, glaring shortcomings.
Tl;dr: I wanted this book to be good, but it is so, so bad.
The casual sexism and objectification of women abounds, and is injected so frequently into the narrative, and with so little reason, that it cannot be ignored. When we *finally* hear from Irma, I was enraged by how poorly her POV was written. The women in the story are flat and lifeless, only serving as a backdrop for the strong men this author clearly gets off on: the charismatic, twice-divorced academic chasing younger women, the strong, silent intelligence officer unable to meaningfully connect with his pregnant wife, the misunderstood Nazis.. please.
Much of the same could be said for the reductive treatment of the Balkans. More stereotypes, nothing original observed, and all leaving a disappointing taste behind. I had hoped to find a thriller that could honestly engage with a complicated region without relying on cliches. But even leaving that aside, there is nothing redeeming in either characters or plot that could make up for the book’s many, glaring shortcomings.
Tl;dr: I wanted this book to be good, but it is so, so bad.
February 5, 2015
I liked reading that book though I don't know in which genre it fits. The cover"s tagline states that Davidsen is one of Denmark's top crime writers, but the book certainly doesn't fit into the crime/mystery genre.
The English title is The Woman from Bratislava, and so one would imagine that espionage is what the book will be about. Again, it isn't. At least, not the classical espionage books one thinks of.
Set against the backdrop of the NATO bombing on Serbia and Kosovo, thee story is told from the perspective if the three main characters: Teddy a professor of history on an academic tour in Central Europe who discovers, in Bratislava, that he has a half sister. I loved reading the part told from Teddy's perspective because its humorous and sarcastic and I found the first person narrative works here when one is hit with the news that he has half a sister after living half a century in complete ignorance.
Next, comes inspector Per Toftlund, who is asked to join Denmark's PET after having botched a bodyguarding operation. He is handed the details of that woman who claimed to have been Teddy's half sister and who is suspected of being a double agent leaking out NATO-sensitive information to the Serbs.
The last perspective is that of Teddy's real sister, Irma, who has a radical leftist past that is catching up with her in light of the leakages suspected by PET.
The beauty of this book lies in the writing, in the description of those newly liberated communist cities and their transition into capitalism, and the schizophrenia that engenders as a result. The characters lives also change through out the book, and the clear cut answers that some people seek to what is right and what is wrong, who is traitor and who is hero, are never as such and constantly shift throughout the book. I'm addition, and drawing on his journalist's experience in covering the Balkan area, Davidsen takes us inside the villages and locations that are not interesting to the media but where the plight of refugees is most visible and heart warming.
Even though I have my reservations regarding the dénouement and the intrigue itself, I still recommend this book.
The English title is The Woman from Bratislava, and so one would imagine that espionage is what the book will be about. Again, it isn't. At least, not the classical espionage books one thinks of.
Set against the backdrop of the NATO bombing on Serbia and Kosovo, thee story is told from the perspective if the three main characters: Teddy a professor of history on an academic tour in Central Europe who discovers, in Bratislava, that he has a half sister. I loved reading the part told from Teddy's perspective because its humorous and sarcastic and I found the first person narrative works here when one is hit with the news that he has half a sister after living half a century in complete ignorance.
Next, comes inspector Per Toftlund, who is asked to join Denmark's PET after having botched a bodyguarding operation. He is handed the details of that woman who claimed to have been Teddy's half sister and who is suspected of being a double agent leaking out NATO-sensitive information to the Serbs.
The last perspective is that of Teddy's real sister, Irma, who has a radical leftist past that is catching up with her in light of the leakages suspected by PET.
The beauty of this book lies in the writing, in the description of those newly liberated communist cities and their transition into capitalism, and the schizophrenia that engenders as a result. The characters lives also change through out the book, and the clear cut answers that some people seek to what is right and what is wrong, who is traitor and who is hero, are never as such and constantly shift throughout the book. I'm addition, and drawing on his journalist's experience in covering the Balkan area, Davidsen takes us inside the villages and locations that are not interesting to the media but where the plight of refugees is most visible and heart warming.
Even though I have my reservations regarding the dénouement and the intrigue itself, I still recommend this book.
December 17, 2016
This is a Danish thriller about spies, the influence of history and family ties. Set during the early days of NATO bombing of Serbia, Leif Davidsen explores the history of Nazism in Denmark and the more recent history of the Cold War, when Denmark's location on the Baltic Sea gave it strategic importance.
Teddy is a university lecturer whose dissertation concluding that the Soviet Union would remain strong for the foreseeable future came out early enough to get him his current position, but too late for him to have become a full professor before his field of study became obsolete. He frequently joins groups traveling through eastern Europe, and it's on one of those tours that he's visited by a Yugoslavian woman who claims to be his half-sister. Meanwhile, his other sister is arrested when the opening of Stasi files indicates that she is the Danish spy, formerly known only as Edelweiss, who had passed important state secrets to the Soviet Union. The police officer assigned to find out who fed her the information is sent all over eastern Europe, from Prague to Budapest to the Albania port city of Durrës, as he seeks to find the woman who claimed to be Teddy's sister, and who seems to hold the key to all the secrets.
Spy thrillers are not really my thing, but the novel did a fantastic job of illuminating a time and place that I know less than I should about. From the Danish history of having troops fighting on the side of the Germans during WWII, until the war was lost and those same men who had fought in the SS were vilified and imprisoned when they returned home, to those chaotic days when formerly communist countries became capitalist overnight, to the disintegration of Yugoslavia, this book was full of historical events I know little or nothing about.
The translation was iffy, and seemed to have been either done in a rush, or by someone with less than complete fluency in English. Eye shadow sets off the color of a woman's iris, for example, and clothing is referred to as "self-colored" more than once. Still, I was happy to have a less than stellar translation than none at all.
Teddy is a university lecturer whose dissertation concluding that the Soviet Union would remain strong for the foreseeable future came out early enough to get him his current position, but too late for him to have become a full professor before his field of study became obsolete. He frequently joins groups traveling through eastern Europe, and it's on one of those tours that he's visited by a Yugoslavian woman who claims to be his half-sister. Meanwhile, his other sister is arrested when the opening of Stasi files indicates that she is the Danish spy, formerly known only as Edelweiss, who had passed important state secrets to the Soviet Union. The police officer assigned to find out who fed her the information is sent all over eastern Europe, from Prague to Budapest to the Albania port city of Durrës, as he seeks to find the woman who claimed to be Teddy's sister, and who seems to hold the key to all the secrets.
Spy thrillers are not really my thing, but the novel did a fantastic job of illuminating a time and place that I know less than I should about. From the Danish history of having troops fighting on the side of the Germans during WWII, until the war was lost and those same men who had fought in the SS were vilified and imprisoned when they returned home, to those chaotic days when formerly communist countries became capitalist overnight, to the disintegration of Yugoslavia, this book was full of historical events I know little or nothing about.
The translation was iffy, and seemed to have been either done in a rush, or by someone with less than complete fluency in English. Eye shadow sets off the color of a woman's iris, for example, and clothing is referred to as "self-colored" more than once. Still, I was happy to have a less than stellar translation than none at all.
August 21, 2013
I have been passionately interested in Albania for many, many years. So, when my wife told me that part of this book by one of Denmark's leading writers of suspenseful novels is set in Albania, I could not wait to read it.
Well, the last 70 or so pages are set in an Albania, which I felt that the author had described without visiting.
The complicated story deals with the investigation of Irma, who is believed to have been a spy for the STASI or the USSR. Her half-sister is an elusive double or triple agent, who was born of a Danish father in wartime (WW2) Yugoslavia. The story begins with her approaching her half-brother and Irma's 'full' brother Teddy in the hope that he will transport some papers back to Denmark from central Europe, where they meet for the first time. Soon after this, Teddy learns that Irma has been arrested and has been held in solitary confinement. Detective Per Toftlund is investigating Irma's case, and soon becomes entangled in a quest that involves not only Irma and Teddy, but also their mysterious half-sister.
The plot unwinds slowly and ponderously, but is not without interest. Set during the Balkan (i.e. Yugoslav) troubles of the 1990s, it lumbers on slowly, constantly exploring the inner thoughts of the main protagonists and thus prolonging the suspense in an agonising way. This is James Bond on the psychoanalyst's couch. The ending, which I will not reveal, disappointed me.
However negative this review may sound, I am planning to try at least one more of this author's books soon.
Well, the last 70 or so pages are set in an Albania, which I felt that the author had described without visiting.
The complicated story deals with the investigation of Irma, who is believed to have been a spy for the STASI or the USSR. Her half-sister is an elusive double or triple agent, who was born of a Danish father in wartime (WW2) Yugoslavia. The story begins with her approaching her half-brother and Irma's 'full' brother Teddy in the hope that he will transport some papers back to Denmark from central Europe, where they meet for the first time. Soon after this, Teddy learns that Irma has been arrested and has been held in solitary confinement. Detective Per Toftlund is investigating Irma's case, and soon becomes entangled in a quest that involves not only Irma and Teddy, but also their mysterious half-sister.
The plot unwinds slowly and ponderously, but is not without interest. Set during the Balkan (i.e. Yugoslav) troubles of the 1990s, it lumbers on slowly, constantly exploring the inner thoughts of the main protagonists and thus prolonging the suspense in an agonising way. This is James Bond on the psychoanalyst's couch. The ending, which I will not reveal, disappointed me.
However negative this review may sound, I am planning to try at least one more of this author's books soon.
September 19, 2009
Toute une histoire! Le livre se concentre principalement sur deux personnages: un Danois d'âge moyen s'appelant Teddy, et un détective. Le détective est en charge q'une enquête sur une femme qui aurait été espionne pour l'union sovietique. Cette femme, découvre Teddy, est sa demi-soeur, alors qu'il s'est toujuors cru orphelin de père. Maintenant, il apprend que son père n'était pas mort et avait eu une autre famille. Il apprend aussi que sa soeur (pas sa demi-soeur) vient d'être arrêtée, aussi avec des accusations d'espionnages. Que découvrira-t-il sur sa famille?
L'histoire se passe pas durant la guerre contre Milosecvic. Elle raconte aussi des faits qui se seraient passés durant a deuxième guerre mondiale, un temps durant lequel, d'après le livre, le Danemark aurait encouragé leurs citoyens à joindre l'armée allemande, puis plus tard aurait puni ces même soldats pour leur coopération avec les allemands.
L'histoire se passe pas durant la guerre contre Milosecvic. Elle raconte aussi des faits qui se seraient passés durant a deuxième guerre mondiale, un temps durant lequel, d'après le livre, le Danemark aurait encouragé leurs citoyens à joindre l'armée allemande, puis plus tard aurait puni ces même soldats pour leur coopération avec les allemands.
February 27, 2013
Didn't like this book as much as first one I read by Davidsen but still a good and engaging read. Again a theme of ingrown Danish society engaged with and conflicting with larger conflict - Balkan wars, Yugoslavian conflict and its consequences. Interesting history of Denmark in WW II - I only knew of resistance to Nazis; had no knowledge of Danes who fought with the Germans and the history behind that. Family allegiances, secrets within families and the community, shame - all lingering ten, twenty years after end of the war. But the spying theme/Cold War enmity - that got a little too confusing for me. Also, some of the family relationships explored (secret half-sister) didn't really hold together for me.
February 3, 2010
I enjoyed the book, although in places it was a little repetitive and boring (Irma's first 2 chapters). Set in Denmark and the East European countries during the war in Kosova and the bombing of Serbia, it is a crime/spy thriller with roots way back in 1940's Denmark and Croatia. Unusual for a crime thriller it has multiple narrators (two 1st person, one 3rd person), so the differring attitudes to Danish collaboration during the German Occupation in the 40s comes across strongly. Very interesting from a historical perspective.
February 22, 2024
Ikke bedste, men alligevel en solid krimi i bedste Davidsen-stil med en halvkikset, halv-gammel anti-helt i hovedrollen. Dennegang er det Teddy en professor der opdager at hans søster - måske - er spion og hans afdøde far var nazist.
Handlingen foregår primært i Danmark og nogle af de tidligere øst Europæiske lande, men ikke i Rusland som ellers er Davidsens yndlings"legeplads". Hvilket er ærgeligt for det er i det russiske niers at han har skrevet sine bedste historier.
Handlingen foregår primært i Danmark og nogle af de tidligere øst Europæiske lande, men ikke i Rusland som ellers er Davidsens yndlings"legeplads". Hvilket er ærgeligt for det er i det russiske niers at han har skrevet sine bedste historier.
January 12, 2011
Interesting take on post-Nazi issues 50 years after WWII. Danish perspective; Nazi guilt. Very intriguing voicing with 4 sections; the first three are first person each from a different person. Enjoyable, but got a little bogged down in the mental battles each person goes through.
June 21, 2016
An intelligent thriller which offers us insight into some of Europe's deeper obsessions and reminds us of the horrific events in Eastern Europe in the 1990's. An absorbing read.
April 6, 2016
Fascinating insight into Danish 20th Century history as well a complex range of characters and a unpredictable story line. Well worth a read.
June 5, 2011
Intriguing and complex historical political story, well constructed and thoughtful..
August 23, 2015
Solid Scandi crime.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews