Inga Lindström: Der Autor und ich (2022)

Ebba attends a reading by author Bianca Lund, whose biggest fan she is. As she gets Bianca to sign her latest book, she learns that Bianca is unsure whether she wants to write any more books. When author Rasmus Engelström asks for the room he has booked every summer at Ole’s guesthouse, the new owner, Liv, has to tell him that Ole has died. His room is not available either. But Rasmus insists, because otherwise he will not be able to see the old oak tree. Liv calls Ebba, who has a holiday cottage next to the guesthouse, and asks whether it is still available. Rasmus is not exactly pleased, but agrees to stay in the cottage. However, he insists on having breakfast at eight every morning, even though Ebba does not offer breakfast at all. When she surprises him with breakfast the next morning anyway, she tries to strike up a conversation, but he is rather curt and soon leaves again. Ebba tells Liv and bookseller Tilde Tuborg about her experiences just as publisher Sven Carstenson turns up. Tilde complains to him that her order still has not arrived, but he is looking for Rasmus, whom he urgently needs to speak to. Ebba takes him to Rasmus and overhears the two men having a heated disagreement. When Liv tries on her wedding dress at Ebba’s bridal shop, she confides that she has the impression her fiancé, Arne, is no longer interested in marrying her. That evening, Rasmus stops by Ebba’s house and sees her cooking, so he accepts her invitation to dinner. At last they get talking. Ebba wants to know what he writes about, but he will not give anything away. What he does do is shatter her illusion about the idyllic world in Bianca Lund’s novels by telling her plainly that he accepted the invitation only because he was hungry. The next morning, Rasmus is a little more talkative, though still cynical: he tells Ebba bluntly that she really knows nothing, because she has never been married. Then he leaves and finally manages to finish his manuscript and send it to Sven. Freed of his burden, he goes for a naked swim in the lake, then turns up at Ebba’s completely relaxed and invites her to dinner. Over the meal, Ebba gets to know a different side of Rasmus: he is charming and talkative. He admits that he is always awful to be around when he is under pressure and apologizes to her. After dinner, he suggests they go swimming in the lake. They grow closer and kiss, then spend the night together. When Ebba wakes the next morning, Rasmus surprises her with breakfast. Later, of course, she rushes to tell her friends what happened. Since Rasmus has already paid for the holiday cottage two weeks in advance, Ebba asks him to keep things casual. They spend several carefree days together, and Ebba has fallen hopelessly in love with him. But at the end of the week, Ebba makes it clear to Rasmus that the two of them cannot be together after all. Suddenly Bianca Lund arrives and wants to speak with Rasmus; they disappear into the holiday cottage. Ebba immediately calls Tilde to share the news. After Bianca has left, Rasmus comes by Ebba’s to say goodbye. Ebba wants to know how he knows Bianca. Rasmus explains that he was married to her and has just signed the divorce papers. Tilde and Liv come to Ebba’s to comfort her over her loss, and Tilde gives her the first book by the new author Lilith Holm. Ebba starts reading it straight away and notices parallels with Bianca Lund’s latest novel. She assumes Lilith Holm plagiarized Bianca Lund and immediately tells Tilde. She calls Sven at once to tell him what she has discovered. He acts as though it is no big deal, since novels like these are always cut from the same cloth. Ebba tries to get hold of Rasmus and leaves her findings on his answering machine. Arne invites her onto his radio show, where she makes her plagiarism allegations to a wide audience. Afterwards, he goes to Liv, eager to tell her how high the ratings were, but she is only annoyed that he forgot their appointment with the pastor. Sven’s phone then rings nonstop, and he has to explain himself. Lilith Holm faces the accusations by answering the audience’s questions at Tilde’s. She loses her nerve and admits that she did not write the book at all. Ebba catches up with her and asks what she meant. She explains that she is actually an actress named Susi Sjöberg and was hired to play Lilith Holm. Ebba asks whether she knows who wrote the book. Susi tells her she saw the man only once and tries to describe him. Ebba shows her a picture of Rasmus, and Lilith confirms that he is the author. Ebba goes to Rasmus and confronts him. He tries to explain how it happened. After an exchange of heated words, he admits to her that he also wrote Bianca Lund’s books. She cannot believe it and runs off. Back home, she tells Liv, and Arne overhears and spreads the news on his radio show. Sven then calls Rasmus and asks how he intends to resolve the situation. Rasmus thinks it is not his problem. Sven visits Tilde because he needs someone to talk to. But she only has a little time, as she has been invited to Liv and Arne’s wedding. Arne bursts into the preparations and argues with Liv again. But afterwards they make up and leave the guests waiting while they have sex. Tilde brings Sven along to the wedding, and Ebba predicts that she is in the process of falling in love with him. Ebba meets Bianca for a joint interview on Arne’s show and asks her leading questions because she wants to find out whether Rasmus told her the truth. Bianca does not understand what this is all about. Rasmus brings Sven a manuscript he has written over the past three days. He insists that it be published under his own name, and that Sven read it himself beforehand rather than giving it to his assistants. Ebba looks for Rasmus in Stockholm, while he looks for Ebba in Halsborg. Sven announces the release of Rasmus’s new book on Arne’s show and also confirms that Rasmus wrote Bianca Lund’s books. Tilde gives Ebba the new book, but she does not want to read it. Rasmus comes to Tilde’s to give a reading. Ebba does not want to attend that either. But when she finally starts reading the book’s first pages, she realizes she is making a big mistake and goes to the reading. They talk about the characters in the book and come to realize that they really love each other.