Money to Burn
Denmark

Money to Burn

by Asta Olivia Nordenhof

Society & Class Historical Fiction Fiction 2020

Summary

Maggie and Kurt live in an old farmhouse in Nyborg, Denmark, struggling to maintain their marriage after their only daughter leaves home. Although they share a life, they seem unable to reach one another, trapped in a relationship shaped by longing, disappointment, and painful silences. As their story unfolds, the novel explores the circumstances that brought them together and the forces that have gradually shaped their lives. Their personal history intersects with one of Scandinavia’s most devastating tragedies: the 1990 fire aboard the passenger ferry Scandinavian Star, which killed 159 people. The disaster, later linked to insurance fraud, becomes a lens through which Nordenhof examines the relationship between private suffering and wider economic systems. Moving between intimate family drama and a broader critique of capitalism, the novel asks whether love can survive in a world where money determines so much of human existence. With fragmented storytelling and emotionally intense prose, Nordenhof explores how economic inequality, gender, and violence shape intimate relationships. Money to Burn is the first instalment in the Scandinavian Star series, an ambitious literary project connecting individual lives with the consequences of greed and exploitation.

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Country
Denmark
Europe
About the author
Asta Olivia Nordenhof
Asta Olivia Nordenhof

Asta Olivia Nordenhof (born 1988) is a Danish poet and novelist recognised for her experimental literary style and incisive explorations of class, capitalism, gender, and human relationships. She studied at the Danish Academy of Creative Writing, where she later taught from 2015 to 2022. Her literary debut, Et ansigt til Emily (A Face for Emily), appeared in 2011 and received the Munch-Christensen Debutant Prize. In 2013, she published the poetry collection Det nemme og det ensomme (The Easiness and the Loneliness), which won the Montana Literary Award. Nordenhof achieved international recognition with Money to Burn (2020), the first novel in her planned seven-volume Scandinavian Star series. The book received both the European Union Prize for Literature and the P.O. Enquist Prize in 2020 and was shortlisted for the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 2021. Her writing combines intimate portrayals of vulnerable individuals with broader political questions, examining how economic systems influence love, family, and personal freedom. Through fragmented narratives, lyrical passages, and unconventional storytelling, Nordenhof has established herself as a distinctive voice in contemporary Scandinavian literature.

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Details
Published
2020
Author
Asta Olivia Nordenhof