Wretchedness

Winner of the 2021 Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize

Shortlisted for the 2016 August Prize

Longlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize

Malmö,
Sweden. A cellist meets a spun-out junkie. That
could have been me. His mind starts to glitch between his memories and the
avant-garde music he loves, and he descends into his past, hearing all over
again the chaotic song of his youth. He emerges to a different sound, heading
for a crash.

From sprawling housing projects to underground clubs and squat parties, Wretchedness is a blistering trip through the underbelly of Europe’s cities. Powered by a furious, unpredictable beat, this is a paean to brotherhood, to those who didn’t make it however hard they fought, and a visceral indictment of the poverty which took them.