Passion in Wax

“I went to bed a virgin and woke up a seasoned breeder. I opened my eyes into Lupus’s gaze. As she placed her front paws on my shoulders, I saw myself reflected in her pupils—I looked renewed. There was something triumphant about me.”

Apocalypse, wayward earwigs, catastrophe, and human fragility. Christina Hesselholdt brings back mismatched siblings Mikael and Gustava.

In the aftermath of a powerful orgasm, two strange creatures from the Book of Revelation land on Mikael’s chest and drive him out into the world. Meanwhile, Bruno has invited Gustava on vacation to a survival enclave far up north. Passion in Wax is a novel where hell draws near, where love tears at the characters’ hearts; and where imagination and storytelling become absolutely essential.

Praise for Passion in Wax:

"I love all of Christina Hesselholdt’s books, but Passion in Wax is perhaps my favourite – it is definitely the funniest"

- Solvej Balle

“Anything can happen in this dark comedy about a virgin who fears the apocalypse.  Strange Mikael is the protagonist of Christina Hesselholdt’s grotesque and dark farce about everyday life and Judgment Day. (...) Passion in Wax is a social-realist fable, a black comedy, and a grotesque farce about everyday life and Judgment Day, and at the center of it all is Mikael, and he is strange, but he is also just a human being. His loneliness is ours. His strangeness is ours. His vulnerability is ours. Farewell, Mikael! The apocalypse has been canceled for now.” 

- Berlingske

‘Everyone should take a small dose of Christina Hesselholdt three times a day… This is playful, poetic prose (...) With Passion in Wax, Christina Hesselholdt puts a wonderfully quirky final full stop on her tragicomic sibling saga.” 

- Kristeligt Dagblad

“The craziest sibling duo in Danish literature, Mikael and Gustava, are back in full force in Christina Hesselholdt’s new, wonderful novel (…) I really think that, of all living Danish authors, Christina Hesselholdt is my absolute favorite! Sorry, Helle Helle! (…) Hesselholdt is still a stylish, wild sprite, and the 150–170-page format remains her favorite—which, in that good, addictive way, always feels at least 50 pages too short. Such is the case with the brand-new, effortlessly masterful novel ‘Passion in Wax’. The enigmatic title is beautiful, but also misleadingly melodramatic, for as true as the book is, it is Hesselholdt’s funniest to date” 

- Weekendavisen

”Has Christina Hesselholdt always been this damn funny? The short answer here is no, she hasn’t, but the humour has, by and large, been on the rise (...) The fact that the novels’ exploration of the world, our time, and the twists and turns of the human mind takes place through two comical characters doesn’t make it any less intelligent (...) In my opinion, the three novels about Gustava and Mikael represent a high point in Christina Hesselholdt’s generally quite magnificent body of work. She really lets loose in her portrayal of these two characters and their attempts to live meaningful lives caught between the pull of complacency, fear, the urge to engage in meaningful ways, and the expectations of their aging and now deceased parents. With their endless brooding and unpredictable behavior, they resemble the cast of characters in her earlier books, but the absurdity is just a notch or two higher, which Hesselholdt’s stylistically superior prose easily carries (…) From start to finish, this gives rise to the combination of situational comedy and great linguistic artistry that Christina Hesselholdt has mastered” 

- Dagbladet Information

“Literature is the tomb of the living word. But the tomb is an echo chamber of voices. In this novel written in her acrobatic language, Hesselholdt paints images on the tomb’s walls and lets the voices resound, so that visions of doomsday give way to lived life.” 

- Politiken