Badass is the English word that Camilla Läckberg uses to describe Faye, the character who has starred in her latest trilogy of novels: The Golden Cage, Silver Wings, and the newly published Golden Dreams (published by Planeta). How to translate badass? Chunga woman?
Faye is a chunga woman, yes, and that is her somewhat kitschy charm: "Faye comes from my teenage fascination with novels by Jackie Collins and Sydney Sheldon," says Läckberg during a promotional visit to Madrid. "In the 80s, there were characters like that, true badass women. They built their empires, devoured a couple of men for breakfast, and looked stunning dressed in Chanel. Another influence was Fay Weldon, a British writer whom I read over and over. Then, those heroines disappeared, and I always wondered where they went. For years, I missed those badass women. Their place was taken by a new romantic novel where women waited for their wonderful husbands and prepared dinner for them. I suppose it was a response to feminism, and I guess that's what awaits us now. We will romanticize the figure of the woman staying at home again. That is dangerous; it will be an attempt to move us away from power again. I think that concern is what drove me to create the character of Faye."
Läckberg is well known. It is only worth clarifying: the author of the Faye Trilogy writes here with a voice that is colder than in the Fjällbacka series, "more journalistic," she says. Regarding Faye, her character, here are some highlights: she was poor and then became very rich. She has a cosmetic empire. One day she buys a mansion and indeed sleeps with the real estate agent. Then she buys a Porsche Carrera and doesn't sleep with the salesperson, but she considers it. She has a father and a husband who are two other badasses, and a mother and daughter in Italy whom she protects. And she has an antagonist, Melinka, who is a good Croatian girl who, by circumstances, is the head of the Swedish mafia. And that without being truly bad.
"Evil is my favorite theme; it is the issue to which I still dedicate my readings. I always think of Plato's phrase, evil is the absence of goodness... There are people who are born without the ability to feel compassion. Evil is not feeling compassion. Then, from that state, the journey to cruelty and sadism begins," explains Läckberg. "Faye is not a victim or a saint; she is a complex character. She is loving and takes care of her family, but she is willing to cross any boundaries to achieve her goals. She is eager to strike first. In Sweden, they told me she is a provocative character. Provocative? What would have happened if her gender changed? If Faye had been a man? We would have seen her as a Liam Neeson character, the most normal thing in the world. He kills but is not bad. That's the crap he has to do."
And Melinka? Melinka poses an interesting idea: she is the criminal who restores a certain sense of self-control and prudence in the mafia. And is that because she is a woman? "It's not a matter of women and men; it's a sign of our times. There are already women in the mafia, and in recent years, we have seen all the old codes of honor of organized crime fall. Not attacking innocents, women, or children... That is the change that is most frightening."
Melinka and Faye will eventually discover themselves as similar. Golden Dreams is also full of such bonds between women who ally and challenge their badass men. "Women have been our worst enemies for too long. We have to learn from men to help each other in our goals." And friendship with men? "It exists in my life and has been very important, but I believe that if there is no balance of power, something will always be lacking in friendship with men."