The Tsar's Dwarf

Soerine, a deformed female dwarf from Denmark, is given as a gift to Tsar Peter the Great, who is smitten by her freakishness and intellect. Against her will, the Tsar takes Soerine to St. Petersburg, where she becomes a jester in his court. There, she lives a life that both compels and repels her. Soerine eventually gives in to the attentions of Lukas, the Tsar's favorite dwarf, and carves out an existence for herself amidst the squalor and lice-ridden world of dwarfs in the early 18th century. In this inhospitable milieu, Soerine's intelligence and detached wit provide her some small measure of protection—until disaster strikes in the shape of a priest who wants to “save” her. The Tsar's Dwarf is a masterfully told and brilliantly translated novel about aberration, endurance, and the human condition."The Tsar’s Dwarf gets off to . . . a fine, rambunctious start. Peter H. Fogtdal . . . has talent—especially in his rendering of his narrator’s biting, contrarian, misanthropic voice. Fogtdal suggests how a vigorous, questioning, nihilistic mind can be a source of strength for a social pariah. And through SØrine, he casts a steady eye on the more general whys and hows of existence . . . The English translation by . . . Tiina Nunnally has a sharp, clean edge." —The Seattle Times

"The brisk pace, flip tone, and confounding convictions of its seventeenth-century narrator make the novel, set in the distant past, feel contemporary . . . Fogtdal widens the potentially narrow first-person point of view . . . that allows her to relay and consider events she does not witness; this gives the novel a broader historical scope. SØrine’s internal life, however, her observations of behavior and investigations of belief, are the source of the novel’s zest and contemporary relevance . . . Just as I began to grow weary, wondering what might happen next to SØrine, she makes a bold move that leads the novel back to its compelling premise: people’s physical oddities are no match for the bizarre manifestations of their desire." —The Believer

"SØrine’s smart and witty . . . [her] life is mesmerizing." —Bookdwarf

"Fogtdal’s story is grotesque and sometimes brutal, but so richly imagined that it is captivating from the start . . . Part historical fiction, part nightmare, The Tsar’s Dwarf is a heart-wrenching tale of humanity." —Book of the Week, Elliott Bay Book CompanyPETER H. FOGTDAL was born in 1956 in Copenhagen, Denmark, and has a degree in playwriting from Cal State Fullerton. He is the author of twelve novels in Danish. Three have been translated into French, and two into Portuguese. In 2005 he won The Francophonian Literature Prize (Le Prix Litteraire de la Francophonie) for Le Front Chantilly. The Tsar’s Dwarf is his first novel in English. Peter H. Fogtdal shares his time between Portland, Oregon, and Copenhagen, Denmark.