Tove

Tove is the first person narrator of The Copenhagen Trilogy. She is born in 1918 in Vesterbro, Copenhagen. Her parents are Alfrida and Ditlev, and her older brother is Edvin. As a young girl, Tove is desperate for her mother's love and attention. However, Alfrida seems reluctant to show her daughter love until she is older. Feeling alone and abandoned, Tove often retreats into her imagination. She also longs for companionship, wishing she could meet someone who might see and understand her. As she grows up, she becomes increasingly enraptured by literature and poetry. When she tells her family she wants to be a poet, they disparage her dreams. Despite these early forms of discouragement, Tove does not give up.

After finishing middle school, she leaves the academic realm and begins working full time. Though she has escaped her imprisoning childhood, Tove feels no less satisfied by her new...