Before the gentlemen's club, a select meeting point for the Swedish aristocracy, where he wears his family's coat of arms, Niklas Natt och Dag (Stockholm, 1979) talks about a ghostly, baroque, stinking and bloody city, the Swedish capital of end of the 18th century, in which he has set his three historical novels, 1793 (2017), 1794 (2019) and, the last, 1795 (Salamandra/Prow), which goes on sale on Thursday. This scenario, populated by hustlers, wretches, conspirators, drunkards, policemen and criminals, enjoys the honor of the City Museum organizing tourist routes, something that until now had only happened with Stieg Larsson's Millennium series.
Do the nobles of today meet in that building?
Yes, those who remain go there to drink and grumble. The truth is that being noble is not a big deal today in Sweden. Since, fortunately, the system does not allow the poor to be savagely exploited, and forces them to pay salaries and taxes, they cannot afford to maintain their large tracts of land or their enormous castles, and end up ruined. The nobility is intended for another type of social organization.
Some privilege will remain...
Yes. A law remains in force, not repealed, which indicates that members of the nobility, instead of being beheaded or killed with an axe, have the right to have our lives taken with a sword, something much cleaner. I hope I don't have to use it.
Here Cardell, physically deformed, takes center stage.
He begins the novels as an assistant, a Dr. Watson, and when his Sherlock dies, he must continue to work alone.
What does it tell us about the terrible Tycho Ceton?
He was a character without depth in the previous books, someone who committed terrible acts without us knowing why. Now I explain it, and it will even make us nice.
Here the female characters are more secondary than in the two previous novels.
However, now a fundamental issue for the female condition is shown, which is the operation of prostitution.
And how was it?
I met a prostitution researcher from the 18th century and I realized that, in reality, it was practiced in a very discreet way, there was a pimp who offered services in closed places. And so I show it now.
Are the bacchanals you describe the fruit of your imagination?
There is a theatrical performance based on works by the Marquis de Sade. And the so-called “dance of the whores” appears at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, which is inspired by a real historical event, which was a scandal, but actually took place at the Armed Forces college, where an orgy was held enormous with participation of the most famous prostitutes of Stockholm.
Were prostitutes part of the court?
Yes and no. The status of a prostitute was not well defined, they could be actresses or dancers who accepted paid sexual contacts, behind closed doors. What we do know is that a prostitute was the lover of Prince Federico Adolfo, little brother of King Gustavo III, and she even had her own room in the Royal Palace.
That reveling prince is one of the real characters in the book…
He was the youngest of the three brothers. He was a playboy, a womanizer, he didn't do much politically.
Neighboring Copenhagen is on fire...
Stockholm had burned before, there were two previous fires that destroyed much of the city. It was common until the law prevented building in wood.
How bad did it smell...
It was something natural for the inhabitants of the time. The evacuation of the latrines was a huge problem, the city grew very fast and new hygiene problems arose.
In addition to the ideals of the French Revolution, here he introduces the novelty of religious sects, with the character of the guru Lars Svala.
Sweden was a Catholic country that became Protestant for political reasons. To do this, the argument was used that the Catholic Church was too powerful and rich, which contradicted the mandate of Jesus. But, in the 18th century, the same thing was said about the Protestant Church again. With the Enlightenment, it was proclaimed that God was a personal matter, that the message did not necessarily have to be transmitted through a priest, and all those evangelist sects arose, which were persecuted and their members ended up emigrating to the United States, where they they developed.
There is a battle with the Russians in the Gulf of Finland...
This historical parallelism is curious: Gustavo III did exactly the same as Putin today, but in reverse: he invaded Russia, a neighboring country, with a stupid pretext. Sweden was then the aggressor, for no reason, it just caused enormous suffering and a great economic catastrophe. The same as today in Ukraine and Russia.
Do Swedes today feel threatened by Russia?
Yes. The truth is that Sweden has no war experiences, we have been at peace for 250 years, the concept of war is foreign to us. We have not been educated in any nationalism or in those military doctrines that speak of the army as defender of the country. I am sure that, in case of war, we would all flee to Spain.
The rotating bed to treat madness, have you invented it?
Nerd! With 1793, they criticized me for exaggerating cruelty, they thought I had taken too many liberties... I read a lot about insane asylums of the time: the rotating bed was invented because they believed that the soul had to be relocated in the body. That bed made patients bleed from their ears and eyes. A doctor of the time noted in his notes that he did not cure mental illness, but he was an infallible laxative.
What is your next project?
A novel –or several– based on the history of my family, my ancestors. My great-great-grandfather – 17 generations ago – murdered a revolutionary with an ax in 1436, even though they were on the same side. Must have been something personal...
