An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed

 By: Helene Tursten

Translated by: Marlaine Delargy

My sister's copy, hardcover 255 pages

Published: 2020 (this translation 2021)

Genre: realistic fiction

My sister wanted all of us siblings to read this book. I thought she said it was hilarious . . . and now that I've read it, I'm confused. It wasn't funny. At all.

Maud is an almost 89 year old woman who is traveling from Norway (or Sweden?) to South Africa. On the long flight, she has memories bubbling up. Like the recent visit from the police wanting to know if she remembers anything else about the "break-in" that resulted in an antiques dealer found murdered in her house. 

She killed him. And she killed her neighbor's adult son. And she tried to kill a colleague. And she did a lot of other awful things in her self-righteous life. She was a seriously twisted individual. The ending, with her using her wealth to help others in need, doesn't negate a life of killing. 

I can empathize with her having had responsibility for her older sister, but this character simply couldn't justify her choices. 

Page 95-6: On an evening like this she could almost imagine meeting Jack the Ripper. If I did, he'd be the one who'd make out worse, she thought with a grim smile.

 

That's à propos of her personality!

Page 137: Goodness me. That's over fifty years ago! Time really does go faster the older you get.

This observation struck me hard. This side of fifty, it definitely feels as though the weeks, months, and years are flying past. 

Page 163: To be fair, everyone under sixty looked young to Maud these days.

Though I've not yet celebrated my 60th, I can also appreciate this sentiment. Everyone seems to look so young! And when I recently heard about a 65 year old's sudden death, I though, "Oh! That's so young." What a change from when I was in my twenties!

I'm looking forward to returning this book to my sister and asking her why she wanted us to read it. The traveling Maud was able to do? Attacking the rapist (instead of alerting the police)? Resentment toward a needy sibling? I'm curious.