Szilvia Molnar – författare

A "brilliant...essential and surprisingly thrilling book about motherhood" (The New York Times) and the early postpartum days, following a woman struggling with maternal fear and its looming madness and showing how difficult and fragile those days can be—and how vital love is to pull anyone out from the dark“A radical novel...I’m obsessed with this book.” —Jessamine Chan, New York Times bestselling author of The School for Good MothersThere is the before and the after. Withering in the maternal prison of her apartment, a new mother finds herself spiraling into a state of complete disaffection. As a translator, she is usually happy to spend her days as the invisible interpreter. But now home alone with her newborn, she is ill at ease with this state of perpetual giving, carrying, feeding. The instinct to keep her baby safe conflicts with the intrusive thoughts of causing the baby harm, and she struggles to reclaim her identity just as it seems to dissolve from underneath her.Feeling isolated from her supportive but ineffectual husband, she strikes up a tentative friendship with her ailing upstairs neighbour, Peter, who hushes the baby with his oxygen tank in tow. But they are both running out of time; something is soon to crack. Joyful early days of her pregnancy mingle with the anxious arrival of the baby, and culminate in a painful confrontation – mostly, between our narrator and herself. Striking and emotive, The Nursery documents the slow process of staggering back towards the simple pleasures of life and reentering the world after post-partum depression.

''I''m obsessed with this novel.'' Jessamine Chan, author of The School for Good Mothers A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR, 2023 AN UNFORGETTABLE NOVEL ABOUT MATERNAL FEAR AND THE MYTH OF IDYLLIC EARLY MOTHERHOOD The baby I hold in my arms is a leech, let’s call her Button. Button is crying. There is a before, and there is an after. In her cramped New York apartment, a mother wilts beneath the intense August heat, struggling to adapt to her role as the silent interpreter of her newborn baby’s needs. She is not the first woman to give birth, to hold and carry and soothe and cradle. But the walls of her home seem to press ever closer as she balances on the fragile tightrope between maternal instinct and the longing for all she has left behind. A lifeline emerges in the unexpected form of Peter, her ailing upstairs neighbour, who hushes the baby with his oxygen tank in tow. They are both confined to this oppressive apartment building, and they are both running out of time. Something is soon to crack. In this mesmerizing portrait of the first days of motherhood, Szilvia Molnar lays bare the strength it takes to redefine who you are, rediscovering the simple pleasures of life along the way. ''I was blown away by this book... At once somber and joyful, sly and earnest, nimble and painstaking, perverse and profoundly invigorating.'' Lydia Kiesling, award-winning author of The Golden State

'I'm obsessed with this novel.' Jessamine Chan, author of The School for Good MothersA NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR, 2023AN UNFORGETTABLE NOVEL ABOUT MATERNAL FEAR AND THE MYTH OF IDYLLIC EARLY MOTHERHOODThe baby I hold in my arms is a leech, let’s call her Button. Button is crying.There is a before, and there is an after.In her cramped New York apartment, a mother wilts beneath the intense August heat, struggling to adapt to her role as the silent interpreter of her newborn baby’s needs. She is not the first woman to give birth, to hold and carry and soothe and cradle. But the walls of her home seem to press ever closer as she balances on the fragile tightrope between maternal instinct and the longing for all she has left behind.A lifeline emerges in the unexpected form of Peter, her ailing upstairs neighbour, who hushes the baby with his oxygen tank in tow. They are both confined to this oppressive apartment building, and they are both running out of time. Something is soon to crack.In this mesmerizing portrait of the first days of motherhood, Szilvia Molnar lays bare the strength it takes to redefine who you are, rediscovering the simple pleasures of life along the way.'I was blown away by this book... At once somber and joyful, sly and earnest, nimble and painstaking, perverse and profoundly invigorating.' Lydia Kiesling, award-winning author of The Golden State

Romanen Mjölkbaren av Szilvia Molnar, i översättning av Andreas Vesterlund. Huvudpersonen i Szilvia Molnars debutroman Mjölkbaren är nybliven mamma. Det är förstås en lycka och en glädje att en fin liten varelse kommit till världen, men omställningen för modern är nästintill total. Från att ha varit strängt upptagen med ett arbete som översättare av skandinaviska böcker för utgivning på engelska, med allt vad det innebär av grubblande över ordens valörer och meningars mening, har hon istället blivit ­dygnet-runt-slav åt sin egen lilla skrikande bebis, Ärtan. "Bebisen skriker", säger grannen som knackar på. "Kan du få barnet att sluta gråta?" Men vad finns att göra? Förvandlad till lydig producent av bröstmjölk vill hon inte lämna sin lägenhet eller ens ta emot sin mans snälla men fumliga försök att hjälpa till. Kan deras nya relation som trio räddas? Och vem är egentligen mannen som ständigt knackar på dörren? Mjölkbaren dokumenterar den långsamma processen att vackla tillbaka till livets enkla nöjen och återinträda i världen efter en förlossningsdepression. "En briljant, väsentlig och överraskande bok om att bli mamma." - NEW YORK TIMES "En kompromisslös, bekräftande roman med en farlig självmedveten humor." - DAILY MAIL "En viktig roman med något av hettan och den tveklösa kvaliteten hos Sylvia Plath." - THE ATLANTIC "Molnars precision och fenomenala öra för språk ger oss nya ord för den äldsta upplevelsen." - Lydia Kiesling "Det här är boken som jag önskar att jag själv hade haft när jag var i berättarens skor." - Jessica Friedmann "Jag är besatt av denna bok." - Jessamine Chan Szilvia Molnar är född i Budapest och uppvuxen i Sverige. Hon bor i Austin, Texas. Hon debuterade med Mjölkbaren (The Nursery) i USA våren 2023. Romanen har fått lysande recensioner och har redan sålts till nio länder. Nu i svensk översättning på Bakhåll. Romanen Mjölkbaren av Szilvia Molnar i översättning av Andreas Vesterlund. ISBN 978-91-7742-603-5. Högkvalitetspapper, sydda ark, mjuka pärmar med flikar. 208 sidor.