The Last Execution

This haunting slip of a novel reflects on the final day of a 15-year-old boy slated for execution. Like a refrain, each chapter begins by counting down the hours until Niels’ beheading for “arson and the murder of the sheriff’s little son with a stone.” The lyrical text then meanders, sometimes through Niels’ mind and recollections, sometimes through the thoughts of other townsfolk connected to the execution. The baker prepares raisin bread to sell to the crowd on Gallows Hill; the messenger posts the official notice of execution; the master carpenter takes measurements for the coffin; the priest tries to save the boy’s soul; the poet scribbles impressions of the morbid scene. Popular Danish YA author Wung-Sung embroiders upon the true story of the last execution performed in Svendborg, thereby offering a fascinating glimpse into the city in 1853. The mix of poetry and prose with shifting perspectives, all told beneath the looming shadow of death, is reminiscent of Masters’ Spoon River Anthology. As Niels’ story gently unfurls, readers come to know the unfortunate—but undeniably guilty—boy. His harsh, itinerant life with his father, his dreams of seeing the winding Mississippi River—these things enrich the tale and prick the conscience. Was his death truly justice served? Thought-provoking and beautifully written, Niels’ plight will linger well beyond the page.