This article presents an analysis of a recent, award-winning Swedish
novel for children and young adults, The Murderer’s Ape by Jakob Wegelius, and
digitally published reviews of the novel. In the first part of the paper, we provide an
intersectional analysis of the novel, focusing on gender, profession, species and
class. The protagonist and narrator of The Murderer’s Ape is not easily categorized,
as she is a mute but literate, highly intelligent and technically proficient gorilla in a
man’s world; an ape among human beings, a working engineer and not a pet or an
attraction at a zoo. Neither class nor social standing constrain her as they do the
human fictional characters. In the second part of the paper, we contrast commentaries
by professional readers with comments from young readers, paying particular
attention to how they have responded to the protagonist. The overarching aim is to
examine how features admired by critics and professional readers are, in practice,
understood by engaged, active readers, including children. Some intersectional
categories represent acquired qualities, whereas others represent socially set
boundaries. Posthumanist and intersectional perspectives provide tools to understand
Sally Jones’ position beyond both the other fictional characters and the

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• Beyond the Characters and the Reader? Digital Discussions on Intersectionality in The Murderer’s Ape