Gerd Rindel was born in 1941. Trained as an advertisement designer, she
has been keen to illustrate many of her books herself, just as she has designed
the covers for all of them. She has studied comparative literature and worked
in publishing houses.
Her first experience of writing for children and young people related to
some radio broadcasts she was given the task of making at the beginning of the
1980s. These turned into the four books Øretævens
vej (Clout Street, 1981), Slagsmål og
silkebånd (Fights and Silk Ribbons, 1982), Brændevin og vokseværk (Distilled Spirits and Growing Pains, 1984)
and Midnatsrosen (The Rose of
Midnight, 1985) about two siblings growing up in a poor working-class family in
the Copenhagen of the 1870s. They are based on meticulous research and came to
stand as a renewal of the political, social realistic children’s novel in Denmark: “There are far too many people throwing fine politically charged words
around such as capitalism, profit and that kind of thing; I won’t do that. I
will explain what I mean.”
There are especially two sources of inspiration for the related novels Vinrankernes hus (House of the Vines,
1988) and Ulvetænder (Wolves’ Teeth,
1989). One is a picture of a Jewish
family painted by the famous Danish artist Wilhelm Eckersberg and now to be
seen in Statens Museum for Kunst, and the other, quite obviously, the
xenophobia of that time. The action is set in the 1790s and 1820s respectively
and portrays a Jewish environment in Copenhagen.
While the research is thorough in
the first historical works, Tusmørkebørn
(Twilight Children, 1985) and Hvor roser
står i flor (Where Roses Bloom, 1986), both of which take place in the
final year of the war 1944-45 and the year following, have a more personally
sensed background. There are moods, smells, lights and sounds. The war is seen
through the eyes of two little girls, and there is a charming portrait of their
father, a starry-eyed inventor.
Et spor i Rusland (A Track in Russia, 1991) was written on the basis of
inspiration deriving from a journey the author made on the Trans-Siberian
Railway in 1990. A 14-year-old girl, who as a third-generation member of a
Russian aristocratic family is living with her grandparents in an old Russian
palatial enclave in Denmark, breaks out to find her roots. Not least, she is
seeking her mother, who ran off soon after the girl was born. The result is an
exciting, dreamlike journey through a Russia in a state of disintegration - a
story about seeking and finding your identity and growing up in a harsh world.
With Himmelhesten (The Sky Horse, 1995), Gerd Rindel continues with the
more magical part of her oeuvre. In this almost dream-like story, time and
place are only of secondary importance. The real development takes place inside
the characters themselves and in the meeting between two widely different
worlds. The book touches on a recurrent motif in the oeuvre: the way in which
children are oppressed. In a melancholy tone interspersed with idiomatic
dialogue, the contrast is portrayed between duty and magic. The author insists
that art and life are two sides of the same coin.
Whereas the oeuvre was launched with the rigorously researched historical novel, it has developed into the
poetical and dreamlike fantasy where everything is seen through the child’s
often innocent eyes. Identity and morals become important subjects. The
language is intense and poetical. The characters stand clearly and are well
differentiated, created by an author endowed with great psychological insight and sensitivity. In addition
to books for children and young people from the age of five, the oeuvre also
includes a couple of works for adults.
(2001)
