Malena Ernman on daughter Greta Thunberg: 'She was slowly disappearing into some kind of darkness'

A new book by Greta Thunberg's mother reveals the reality of family life during her daughter's transformation from bullied teenager to climate iconGreta's father, Svante, and I are what is known in Sweden as "cultural workers" - trained in opera, music and theatre with half a career of work in those fields behind us. When I was pregnant with Greta, and working in Germany, Svante was acting at three different theatres in Sweden simultaneously. I had several years of binding contracts ahead of me at various opera houses all over Europe. With 1,000km between us, we talked over the phone about how we could get our new reality to work."You're one of the best in the world at what you do," Svante said. "And as for me, I am more like a bass player in the Swedish theatre and can very easily be replaced. Not to mention you earn so damned much more than I do." I protested a little half-heartedly but the choice was made. Continue reading...