Description: Karin Michaëlis was an internationally known and acclaimed author whose progressive insights into women's psyche and behavior are as valid today as they were at the time of publication. This book explores her use of incest as a metaphor for the oppression of women in a patriarchal society and the way in which female masochism colludes with the male power structure. Michaëlis's use of elements from romance novels, fairy tales, and the gothic genre are a part of her subversive strategy to communicate her message and to empower women.
Review Quotes: «This book offers an introduction to Karin Michaëlis, one of Denmark's most internationally renowned writers of the first half of the twentieth century. Von Eyben places Michaëlis's writing within a European context, then uncovers surprising uses of Freud, incest, and sadomasochism in her work. For von Eyben, Michaëlis's representations of female sexuality and her ironically complex perspective on sex and romantic love play in to and subverts the tradition of the romantic novel in which she herself writes.» (Ross P. Shideler, Professor of Comparative and Scandinavian Literature, The University of California at Los Angeles)