When Body and Mind Fail: An Aging Surgeon's Final Reckoning

Kjersti Anfinnsen's acclaimed trilogy about the aging heart surgeon Birgitte Solheim reaches its poignant conclusion in "Dödsverk" (Death's Work), where Birgitte confronts mortality from hospice care. The series, translated into Swedish by Marie Lundquist, delves into Birgitte's internal struggles as her physical and mental faculties decline.

Throughout the three slim but dense volumes, Birgitte grapples with the life-sustaining strategies she relied upon: her independence, misanthropy, and arrogance, all fueled by a sharp intellect. Anfinnsen masterfully portrays how these traits become difficult to maintain when both body and mind falter. The author employs short, concentrated paragraphs, sometimes just a single sentence, creating a linguistic density that Lundquist skillfully conveys in the Swedish translation.

The narrative is often laconic, occasionally sensitive, and offers fleeting glimpses of life's brilliance. However, Birgitte's dying words are characterized by a profound darkness and a biting bitterness, delivered with a sharp wit. She dismisses her visiting grandniece's romantic woes as trivial compared to the reality of aging and dying, stating, "What are such small dilemmas compared to old age? A small crisis here or there, a day or two or thirty becomes just a joke. She apparently thinks it's grown-up to have life crises. Life is a death crisis."

In the trilogy's first part, "De sista smekningarna" (The Last Caresses), Birgitte was still vigorous, harboring anger towards her mother and confronting difficult people. This anger fueled her as one of the first female heart surgeons navigating a field rife with prejudice. However, she softened upon meeting a late-life love interest, Javiér, through online dating. The second part, "Ögonblick för evigheten" (Moments for Eternity), saw him depart from her life. "Dödsverk" finds her back in hospice, furious at her failing body and the slow approach of death.

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What are such small dilemmas compared to old age? A small crisis here or there, a day or two or thirty becomes just a joke. She apparently thinks it's grown-up to have life crises. Life is a death crisis.