It’s the anonymity, stupid: Not-so fictional novel’s author criticised

Political thriller keeps critics guessing about author’s identity but not the real-life person the main character resembles

A newly released novel with a perhaps not so fictional premise is making some real-world waves.

The novel, "Det godes pris" (The cost of doing what's right) written by an anonymous author that goes by the pseudonym of Christian Tornbakke, portrays a social-democratic prime minister who bears a striking resemblance to current PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt. 

The book's protagonist, Ellen Wilson Kock, even has a husband who lives in London. Thorning-Schmidt's husband, Stephen Kinnock, works in London.

The plot involves a scenario that sees the publication of risqué photos taken during a period in Kock's life when she served as a drug courier. 

Not rare, but not quite fair either

While the book's publisher L&R stood by the author's anonymity, it provided the curious some bread crumbs and stated the author is a recognised Scandinavian writer. 

Though political fiction is not anything particularly new to Denmark (think 'Borgen' or the 2005 film 'AFR', about the murder of then PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen), some critics have questioned whether it was appropriate for the author to remain anonymous.

SEE RELATED: Borgen supremacy: DR reveals the secret to its success

"One can ask if it is fair for someone to hang an easily recognisable person out to dry when that person themselves is hiding behind a pseudonym," Niels Frid, a critic for public broadcster DR, wrote in his review of the book. "It is hardly forbidden to place recognisable people into a fictional universe. But it is possible to discuss whether or not it is ethically justifiable to present public figures in this way." 




  • Chinese wind turbine companies sign pact to end race-to-the-bottom price war

    Chinese wind turbine companies sign pact to end race-to-the-bottom price war

    China’s 12 leading wind turbine makers have signed a pact to end a domestic price war that has seen turbines sold at below cost price in a race to corner the market and which has compromised quality and earnings in the sector.

  • Watch Novo Nordisk’s billion-kroner musical TV ad for Wegovy

    Watch Novo Nordisk’s billion-kroner musical TV ad for Wegovy

    Novo Nordisk’s TV commercial for the slimming drug Wegovy has been shown roughly 32,000 times and reached 8.8 billion US viewers since June.

  • Retention is the new attraction

    Retention is the new attraction

    Many people every year choose to move to Denmark and Denmark in turn spends a lot of money to attract and retain this international talent. Are they staying though? If they leave, do they go home or elsewhere? Looking at raw figures, we can see that Denmark is gradually becoming more international but not everyone is staying. 

  • Defence Minister: Great international interest in Danish military technology

    Defence Minister: Great international interest in Danish military technology

    Denmark’s Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen attended the Association of the Unites States Army’s annual expo in Washington DC from 14 to 16 October, together with some 20 Danish leading defence companies, where he says Danish drone technology attracted significant attention.

  • Doctors request opioids in smaller packs as over-prescription wakes abuse concerns

    Doctors request opioids in smaller packs as over-prescription wakes abuse concerns

    Doctors, pharmacies and politicians have voiced concern that the pharmaceutical industry’s inability to supply opioid prescriptions in smaller packets, and the resulting over-prescription of addictive morphine pills, could spur levels of opioid abuse in Denmark.

  • Housing in Copenhagen – it runs in the family

    Housing in Copenhagen – it runs in the family

    Residents of cooperative housing associations in Copenhagen and in Frederiksberg distribute vacant housing to their own family members to a large extent. More than one in six residents have either parents, siblings, adult children or other close family living in the same cooperative housing association.


  • Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    On Friday 27 and Saturday 28 of September, The Copenhagen Post will be at International Citizen Days in Øksnehallen on Vesterbro, Copenhagen. Admission is free and thousands of internationals are expected to attend

  • Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Chisom Udeze, the founder of Diversify – a global organization that works at the intersection of inclusion, democracy, freedom, climate sustainability, justice, and belonging – shares how struggling to find a community in Norway motivated her to build a Nordic-wide professional network. We also hear from Dr. Poornima Luthra, Associate Professor at CBS, about how to address bias in the workplace.

  • Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality, home to Denmark’s largest infrastructure project – the Fehmarnbelt tunnel connection to Germany – has launched a new jobseeker support package for the accompanying partners of international employees in the area. The job-to-partner package offers free tailored sessions on finding a job and starting a personal business.