Controversy Over Liza Marklund’s Gömda

The line between fact and fiction, between what is real and what is made up, is quite often blurred.

The Swedish National Bibliography recently crossed it, reclassifying a book subtitled “A True Story” from factual to fictional, due to questions raised by an ongoing controversy.

Liza Marklund’s book Gömda which was first published in 1995, became an instant hit when it was re-released in 2000, becoming the focal point of a wide-ranging debate on issues of abuse and domestic violence, racism and orientalism, genre and the thin line between fact and fiction.

That debate is now back, with the publication of Monica Atonsson’s book Mia – Sanningen om Gömda (Mia, the Truth About Buried Alive), which the writer describes as a journalistic expose of Marklund’s book, presenting evidence that some facts in Marklund’s book are in fact fiction.

Liza Marklund’s Book:

Gömda, according to Marklund, was born when a woman called her one day from a telephone booth and told her she had been in hiding for two years. Both Gömda, and Asyl – den sanna fortsättningen på Gömda (Asylum – the True Continuation of Gömda) tell the story of this woman, who is given the psuedonym Mia, documenting her struggle to escape from the abuse, threats and irrational violence of her ex-fiance and the father of her firstborn child Emma.

The ex-fiance becomes even more violent when Mia meets Anders, a man from Norrland whom she later marries, and the books end with her and her family going into hiding, and finally being forced to leave Sweden. The ex-fiance, referred to in both books only as “the man with the dark eyes”, is a Lebanese immigrant.

“Mia Erikson” has herself written a series of books on her story: Mia’s Hemlighet (Mia’s Secret), Mias Systrar (Mia’s Sisters), and Emma Mias dotter (Emma, Mias Daughter). The books have touched many readers, and have drawn attention to cases of domestic violence and violence against women in Sweden. Gömda in particular is an intense and sometimes uncomfortable read, the reader’s identification with Mia strengthened by the many trials she undergoes.

Monica Antonsson’s Book:

Given Gömda’s popularity, Antonsson’s book, which was published in December 2008, was bound to receive a lot of attention. Antonsson writes that many of the facts presented by Marklund and Mia are in fact fictional, that some facts have been drastically altered, and that other facts are missing – no mention is made, for example, of Mia’s real firstborn child Michael, who was left behind with Mia’s ex-boyfriend Levy when Mia, Emma and Anders fled Sweden.

In Antonsson book, “the man with the dark eyes” is named as Osama Awad. Awad is not represented as innocent – as Antonsson points out, he was found guilty of minor assault, at least three times. In Gömda, however, the abuse depicted takes on political overtones – in one incident, “the man with dark eyes” rapes Mia while telling her about murders and rapes he had commited in Sabra and Shatila, as a way to convince her that he can destroy her entire family. This leads to some confusion on Mia’s part as to his religion, when her friend tells her that if he was in Sabra and Shatila he must be Chrisitan. Interestingly this question is left hanging and what precisely his religion is is never quite resolved. In the very beginning of the book, when they first meet, Mia looks surprised to see an Arab man drinking and “the man with dark eyes” asks her jokingly if he looks like a fanatical Muslim. Later on in the story, he tries to make her convert to Islam, asks her not to wear a bikini, and breaks down the door to her flat to clear her kitchen of pork.

Another character in the book is Helena, who has a child with another Arab man called Mohammad, and who in one scene in Marklund’s book is sitting with Mia in a public place when both Mohammad and “the man with the dark eyes” appear and start beating them and trying to take Emma away. This is only one of countless incidents in which “the man with the dark eyes” and his gang threaten, stalk, beat up or harass Mia and her family.

Lena Larsen, the real Helena, says she was angry when the book was first published, but now only wants that Mia’s three children (Michael, Emma and Robin) should be told the truth.
The Truth About Gömda

Popular Orientalism:

In 2006 Anne Heith wrote in “Gömda. En sann historia – romantik, spänning, melodram, och populärorientalism about the sensationalist aspect behind the story’s popularity, and about the use of cultural clichés and orientalist stereotypes in the book. These charges of racism have been reinforced by the fact that Anders, the blond, blue-eyed Swede who represents goodness, stability and security in the book is in reality a Chilean immigrant named Luis.

In one section of her book, Antonsson writes that Luis served a year in prison for trying to run over Awad with his car, and that the family actually fled Mia’s hometown after he was released. This incident is missing in the book.

In response to Antonsson’s charges, Marklund has argued that the books are documentary-novels, rather than reportage or fact books. However, Åsa Linderborg in Aftonbladet sees this shift in the writer’s position regarding the book’s factual status (from true story to documentary-novel) as telling, describing the modification of facts to turn Luis into Anders and Awad into the “man with the dark eyes” as manipulation based on commercialism.

Marklund’s Reaction to Criticism:

Liza Marklund recently apologized to those who took the subtitle “A True Story” to mean the books are factual and correct down to the smallest detail, and said that the books should have been described rather as “based on a true story.” However, she has also pointed out that modifying the facts was a neccessity – she had to alter the story to protect the identity of her source.

In one interview, she meets the criticism directed against her books by arguing that she has told Mia’s story and no one else, that the books present what is essentially a subjective account of the terrible experience Mia underwent, and that her reason for writing the books was to allow a woman who had been abused, threatened and raped to tell her story and to draw attention to similar cases.

Liza Marklund Interview (In Swedish)
The Real Mia:

Until recently, the woman at the center of the controversy has chosen not to step into the spotlight, but Mia, who lives with her new husband in the US under a new identity, has now come forward to support the books and stand behind Liza Marklund. She has also filed a complaint against Antonnson for having violated her right to anonymity as a source.

"I am Mia", Aftonbladet

In answer to a question on whether the book is fact or based on fact, Mia argues that this is not what is relevant: “What difference does it make if the books had been subtitled “based on a true story” , does that mean the writer can lie? There is proof that I was threatened and abused. I was granted asylum. The argument is there.”

xposted

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