Don't Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves

Jonas Gardell

This is the story of a group of friends in 1980s Stockholm during the AIDS epidemic when nobody else was there to support them.

Rasmus has just moved from smalltown Koppom to Stockholm with the intention to never go back. He soon meets Benjamin, who was raised a Jehovah’s Witness and has tried everything in his power to deny his attraction to men. The two quickly fall helplessly in love—a love that will come at a high cost.

Ramus and Paul surround them with friends who quickly become chosen family: Paul, a charming, self-proclaimed diva; Bengt, a handsome movie star in the making; shy Reine, always pining for someone he can’t have; and activist Seppo with his boyfriend Lars-Åke.

Just as they begin to live their lives with a sense of pride, young queer men start to succumb to a mysterious new disease that the media label “the gay plague.”

Set in a mesmerising literary universe, Never Wipe Tears Without Gloves, is a story based on real events—a breathtaking epic about a city and a time; about love, friendship, and betrayal. Once you step out of it, you will never be quite the same.

Rasmus and Benjamin’s love story has already become a classic.

Jonas Gardell är sedan 40 år en av landets mest hyllade och lästa författare till mängder av romaner, tv-serier och långfilmer. Flera räknas som moderna klassiker, såsom En komikers uppväxt, Livet är en schlager och Torka aldrig tårar utan handskar.

Jonas Gardell har utnämnts till hedersdoktor i teologi i Lund, medicin i Linköping och filosofi i Åbo.

2012 utsågs han till Årets Svensk.

2016 tilldelades han S:t Eriksmedaljen.

2017 tilldelades han KTH:s stora pris ”för betydelsefull verksamhet för vårt lands framåtskridande”.

2025 tilldelades han Illis quorum, regeringens belöningsmedalj till ”personer som gjort framstående insatser för allmännyttiga ändamål”.

Jonas Gardell är en av grundarna av Regnbågsfonden.

A prolific writer of fiction and screenplays for the past forty years, Jonas Gardell is considered one of the most acclaimed and distinctive voices in Swedish literature today. Several of his books are regarded as modern classics, such as A Comedian’s Childhood and Don’t Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves.

Gardell has been awarded an honorary doctorate in theology from Lund University, an honorary doctorate in medicine from Linköping University, and an honorary doctorate in philosophy from Åbo Akademi University.

In 2012, he was named the Swede of the Year.

In 2017, he was awarded KTH Royal Institute of Technology’s Grand Prize for ”significant work for our country’s progression.”

In 2025, he was awarded Illis Quorum, the government’s medal of reward for ”outstanding contributions to Swedish culture”.

Jonas Gardell is one of the founders of the Rainbow Foundation, an organization that champions the rights of the LGBTQI community.

Rachel Willson-Broyles has been working as a translator of Swedish to English since 2008. She majored in Scandinavian Studies at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, and received her BA there in 2002. She started translating while a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she received a Ph.D. in Scandinavian Studies in 2013. She has translated works by Jonas Hassen Khemiri, Malin Persson Giolito, Jonas Jonasson, Christoffer Carlsson among others.
Rachel lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota.