QThis is the story of three women united by a family destinyfrom love and from a place: a Norwegian island. It is here that Juni takes refuge to escape from an abusive husband: she spent her childhood in her grandparents’ house, now it is empty and she remembers “When grandma danced in the rain”. It is the phrase chosen for the title of a million-copy women’s saga that can be read in one sitting and which sheds light on an unknown chapter of European history.
Surprising plot, crystalline style, pace worthy of an investigation of the heart and facts: Juni inherits secrets and sorrows from her mother Lilla and grandmother Tekla. They are told by Trude Teige, a journalist who lives near the Oslo fjord and gives voice to the minimal existences consumed in the shadow of the Second World War: they are those of Norwegian women in love with the Germans and, for this reason, repudiated by their nation.
When grandma danced in the rain by Trude Teige
Why did he write it?
Many years ago an eighty-year-old lady contacted me who wanted to tell me about her life. Her name was Anna Deichmann, she had fallen in love with a German soldier during the war in Norway, married him and moved with him to Germany. This was how she lost her Norwegian citizenship: a great pain for her. That time I realized that we knew nothing about these girls who left Norway for Germany after the war. Anna died just three months after we met, but she inspired me to do more research.
Trude Teige is a well-known journalist and television presenter in Norway. When grandma danced in the rain
It is part of a trilogy that has consecrated her among the best-selling authors in her homeland. (Photo: Tine Poppe)
What did he discover?
In Norway, women automatically lost their citizenship when they married a German soldier. They were judged without having committed a crime, without a trial – not on the basis of the law, but on morality – and much more harshly than the men who had made their fortunes collaborating with the Germans in occupied Norway. It was unfair, no one had ever told it.
The Norwegian government apologized to these women eight years ago.
Yes, I would also say thanks to me. At that time I couldn’t stop thinking about Anna’s eyes when she showed me her new passport, which she had obtained when she returned to Norway after her husband’s death. “Now I finally live up to this country,” he said. So I decided to write an article in a newspaper and challenged the Norwegian Prime Minister to apologize. Thanks to this and a lot of pressure, the apologies arrived. Unfortunately, too late for Anna. But they were very important to his daughter and many other descendants.
The novel also mentions the Demmin tragedy in 1945. What should we know?
In an old essay, I had found the story told by a witness who was already in Germany before the end of the war. She lived on a farm with her husband when the Russians moved west. They arrived at the farm and the soldiers raped all the women but not her. She had a pin on her blouse. It was the Norwegian flag: during the war, Norway and the USSR were friends, so they let it go. Their “punishment” only concerned the German women. I found an interview in which a woman said her mother had been raped multiple times in a single day by Russian soldiers in Demmin. At the time I could find almost nothing about the “Demmin tragedy,” so I went there to talk to people. I was shocked. Why didn’t the history books talk about it?
When Grandma Danced in the Rain by Trude Teige, Fazi, 312 pages, €19.50
Alongside the injustice and violence, there is also the grandmother’s love for the German soldier but also that of Juni in the end…
Yes, it’s the greatest thing of all. Love is essential to face life’s challenges, heal, forgive, be happy. If there’s anything we need in the world today, it’s more love. Much more. Even among nations.
Juni has to make a decision about the baby she is carrying. Motherhood also plays a central role.
I have three children and I only know that becoming a mother is the life experience that has most influenced my way of seeing the world. It was therefore natural for me to make the female characters of a historical novel about three generations of women, all mothers.
Does she also, as the title says, dance in the rain?
I love it, I want it during the summer and I rarely want the sun during the rain. Its noise on the roof, in the gutters, against the window, is the sound of life. It relaxes me. I suppose it’s because I grew up on an island on the west coast of Norway, experiencing strong winds and showers from the sea all year round. Maybe it reminds me of a very happy childhood.
When Judi discovers the truth, she finds some peace. Can we save ourselves from the negative feelings we inherit?
There is research showing that physical changes can even occur in the genes of descendants of people exposed to trauma. We can save ourselves though. We need the awareness that our history began long before we were born, is imbued with the values of our ancestors and will forever influence our identity. The same goes for a nation. What does it mean to be Norwegian or Italian? To answer you need to know our complete story. Even that of wars.
In what sense?
Because often these stories are told by men and talk about men. If we don’t know those of women, we will only ever count by half.
