Aunt Katrina and Uncle Poul only want the best for me, but their best for me is to marry me off to a significant suitor.  Maybe it’s what’s best for them, but what about for me? I’m not quite sure that’s what I want, at all. Of course there are several candidates…Captain Frederick Skaargaard, Herr Hans Tietgen, Herr Karl Pedersen, Christian Lende, and…Axel has been a terrible flirt.  But there must be more to my life in Copenhagen than what my Aunt and Uncle expect of it. What if I were to put my intelligence to use? Aunt Katrina thinks I’m beautiful and exotic, but she’s also told me how intelligent I am. I can hold my own among their bourgeoisie friends.  What if I were to take a course, immerse myself in Danish culture…

I’ve decided to enroll in a literature course at University of Copenhagen.  Reading is much better company than the dinner parties Aunt and Uncle keep throwing.  Jens Peter Jacobsen and Henrik Ibsen both write characters that are so tragic, yet there’s something about them that I identify with so much.  Ibsen’s A Doll’s House really makes me question any intentions Aunt and Uncle have about marrying me off.  Maybe I’ll become a writer instead of getting married.

I should tell you that I am the only woman in the class.  I am the only Negro in the class. Actually, I feel like I am the only Negro woman in this country.  Can that be? Am I the only one? Weren’t my Danish ancestors involved colonizing in the West Indies?  

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