Books

A publisher is snowed into his office one winter evening while writing a lecture on ethics in the realm of art and literature.  That same afternoon a woman has alleged that in the manuscript of a bestselling author which he is about to send into print, is based on real and horrific events in her life, taking place while she worked on a peace keeping mission in Africa.  She claims to have good reasons for keeping the story confidential.

Throughout history, many novelists have let themselves be inspired by the lives and destinies of real people.  But exactly how far can a writer go in the name of art? Where are the boundaries between art and reality? And between art and ethics?

Come describes the hours while the publisher tries to uncover what really happened and debates with himself how best to answer these questions.  Should he publish the said novel and relinquish all responsibilities, arguing that ethics have no place in the arts? Or, knowing very well that the author can easily get the manuscript published elsewhere, should he nevertheless draw a line in the sand and say: no, this is going too far? How much of a choice does he have in a market driven world where only the fittest survive? And what is in fact the truth of the woman's story?

The night's solitude takes him far from the paved roads of conventional thinking into the perilous trails of art, love and reality, where any step bears dire consequences for his own life.  And prehaps there is no way back. Come concerns itself with writers and publishers, but the issues it raises naturally reach far beyond: Where begins and where ends our responsibility for one another?

Praise for Come

'In Come, current issues of conflict are transformed into high level literary energy.' – Politiken

'I whizzed right through, but the afterthoughts have never left me.'  – DR2, Danish national TV

'A mind-blowing novel about real life in literature. And vice versa.' – Litteratursiden