If you like Johan Theorin, you`ll love Marko Hautala

Transcription

“If you like Johan
Theorin, you’ll love
Marko Hautala”
New book ‘Worms’
out in April 2011
Rights sold to Italy
(‘Shrouds’)
“Marko Hautala shows a masterful
grasp of literary technique and his
own material. He writes powerful
prose in which memorable sentences
join together to create a stirring
vision of life.”
Praise from the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize jury
for ‘Shrouds’ in 2010.
PHOTO: M I KKO LE HTI MÄKI, 2011 · TORAJYVÄT COVE R: SAKU H E I NÄN E N
RIGHTS GUIDE
FICTION Fall2011
Marko Hautala:
Worms
(Torajyvät, Tammi 2011) 260 pages
Worms is an intensely emotional tale of
the long shadows cast by the past and
atonement for irreversible deeds.
Aaron and Jenny’s marriage is in good
shape on the surface when they are invited to the outer islands in the Gulf of Bothnia. Aaron’s adult son, Alexi, lives there in
seclusion due to a brain injury sustained in
a serious car accident. The invitation cannot be turned down, since it could be the
last chance for reconciliation and forgiveness.
Jenny is Alexi’s former sweetheart, and the
father’s scandalous secret relationship with
his son’s girlfriend caused deep rifts between
them at the time. However, on the rocky,
barren island lurks the mysterious legacy of
a shipwreck, marked by nine stone graves
and a small, dilapidated chapel. These ghostly memorials conceal an ancient tragedy and
an ideology in which a sinner is of no more
worth than a worm crawling in the dirt. And
on the island, that legacy appears to live on.
TO BE PUBLISHED IN APRIL 2011
If you like Johan Theorin, you’ll
love Marko Hautala!
COVE R: SAKU H E I NÄN E N
Winner of the Kalevi
Jäntti Literary Prize
for ‘Shrouds’
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Marko Hautala (b. 1973) is an author and a
teacher who used to work in a psychiatric hospital. His first novel The Self-Illuminated Ones
(Itsevalaisevat, 2008) received the Tiiliskivi
Prize. In 2010 Hautala received the Kalevi
Jäntti Literary Prize for Young Authors for
Shrouds.
2 Rights enquiries: Elina Ahlback Literary Agency | [email protected] | www.ahlbackagency.com
(Käärinliinat, Tammi 2009) 279 pages
Thirty-year-old Mikael is assigned as the
designated nurse of an elderly male patient
in the closed ward of a mental hospital. The
patient has committed an inexplicable murder, and has since retreated into a strange
Egyptian counter-world, haughtily propagating his death cult through eerily hypnotic
sermons. Mikael struggles to understand his
patient, but due to his own life situation he
fails to remain professionally detatched. His
colleagues offer no help: dark cynicism dominates the everyday life of the hospital. The
reader gradually finds out more about the
patient as the old man’s wartime experiences
unfold through a series of dramatic flashbacks, presenting one possible explanation
for the onset of his disease. However, Hautala is too subtle and mature to offer a single
cut-and-dry solution.
ENGLISH SAMPLE TRANSLATION
“The ending offers a surprise
that upgrades a fine story to
an excellent one.”
– Metro
Tapani Bagge:
The Blue Ghost
(Sininen aave,
Tammi 2011) 232 pages
Finnish crime fiction
has a new, humane
protagonist.
COVE R: J USSI KAAKI N E N
Shrouds is a gripping novel about the
power of the human mind as well as
a merciless depiction of the harshness of
life at a mental institution.
PHOTO: M I KKO LE HTI MÄKI
Marko Hautala:
Shrouds
The year is 1940. Detective Sergeant Mujunen,
familiar to readers of
White Heat, is swept up
in a new, more poignant chain of events.
Mujunen, in mourning for the death of his
wife, meets the Lithuanian dancer Ilse Anders
at the cemetery, and his
heart skips a beat. But
his troubles are far from
over.
A Finnish commuter plane vanishes after
taking off from Tallinn,
a bank is robbed in
Kerava, and riots flare
in Helsinki, the protesters demanding peace and brotherhood between
Finland and the Soviet Union. Also involved is a big time gangster, Finnish-American Bill Kovanen, arrived too late to take part in the Winter
War. Crime journalist Ossi Koho and photographer Sanna Rytkönen
suspect a conspiracy: what if everything is connected with the accident
where actress Sirkka Sari fell into the chimney of the Aulanko Hotel?
The last act is played out on the windy shore of the Ice Sea, where Mujunen’s faith in mankind is put to the test.
RIGHTS SOLD TO GERMANY (GODFATHER’S FUNERAL, 2008, AND
BLACK SKY, 2006)
Praise for White Heat (Valkoinen hehku, Tammi 2009)
“The narrative is dynamic ––The many characters are
vividly described, with humour blossoming even in the
midst of sobering issues.”
– Umami
Rights enquiries: Elina Ahlback Literary Agency | [email protected] | www.ahlbackagency.com 3
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The Face in the Gutter
(Kasvot katuojassa, CrimeTime 2011)
is Tapani Bagge’s (b. 1964) thirteenth crime
novel, filled with wry humour, a devious plot,
amusing metaphors, and even some skilfully
sketched human relationships. The protagonist, Onni Syrjänen, has previously appeared
in numerous short stories (e.g. in the collection The Face in the Concrete, 2007). A comic
book is also in the works. Bagge has received
several prizes for his over 50 published fiction
and children’s books.
COVE R: AKI SUVANTO
Markku Ropponen: Kuhala and the
Prison Warden’s Mandolin
(Kuhala ja vanginvartijan mandoliini, Tammi 2011) 323 pages
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Markku Ropponen (b. 1955) has undoubtedly claimed his place among the great
Finnish crime writers with his Kuhala novels,
brimming with intelligent humour and sparkling wit – but still gripping and tense.
Otto Kuhala, about to give up his career as a private
detective, moves into a little country cabin to find
some peace and quiet. However, an anonymous caller foils his plans, giving him half an hour to find a
bomb hidden in the foundation of his cabin. Kuhala has in his day put quite a few crooks behind bars,
so it looks like one of them is looking for revenge.
He is soon commissioned to investigate a double murder. The main suspect has hanged himself
in his cell. Kuhala’s detective’s instinct leads him
to take a dangerous trip to the country. The bad
boys in the boondocks make the most of the detective’s visit, and he ends up in a tough spot, spending the night in the cell of a condemned prison.
His dream of spending Christmas with the lovely Yolanda seems to be slipping out of his grasp.
“Ropponen’s long, baroque sentences
will surely please many readers.”
– Savon Sanomat
COVE R: AKI SUVANTO
Carefully crafted, addictive and spiced with
Ropponen’s unique wit, this book stands out
among Finnish crime literature.
Kuhala and Spring’s First
Corpse (Kuhala ja kevään
ensi ruumis, Tammi 2010)
Kuhala comes across
the horrendous evidence
of a killing on a springtime walk. Who jammed
an ice claw into the neck
of the former county administrator?
COVE R: SCH I LDTS
Staffan Bruun: Suitcase Full of Money
(Kappsäck full med pengar , Schildts 2010) 225 pages
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Staffan Bruun (b. 1955), an ex-crime reporter inspired by international underworld activities, ventured into crime fiction in 1990s. In
2009 he was granted the Topelius Prize for
his journalistic achievements.
Antonio Sallinen is a well behaved familyman who
doesn’t drink and doesn’t mess around with foreign beauties. But it doesn’t help him – he still
finds himself in an awful mess. In Suitcase Full of
Money he picks up the wrong suitcase at the airport. It contains a lot of money and Sallinen, together with his wife, decides to keep it. But somebody else wants the money too, and he is not gentle about it.
Suitcase Full of Money is a classic thriller with a
story that very rapidly runs from beginning to end.
Staffan Bruun has once again written a gripping story packed with entertaining twists and turns.
“Bruun dares to laugh at the crime
fiction genre. The text is good social
criticism, and Antonio Sallinen makes
an entertaining protagonist.”
– Vasabladet
RIGHTS AVAILABLE
COVE R: SCH I LDTS
A hard-boiled crime novel about the
consequences of accidently picking up the
wrong suitcase from the belt.
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Struggling Love
(Struggling Love, Schildts
2008) is the ninth crime
novel featuring journalist
Burt Kobbat. Murders,
death threats, a long-lost
Beatles recording and the
premiere of a Disney film
all conspire to provide
Kobbat with adventures in
various countries.
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DEBUT AUTHORS
COVE R: MAR KKO TAI NA
Peter Franzén: On Dark Waters
(Tumman veden päällä, Tammi 2010) 319 pages
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For children, every day brings something new and
amazing. It could be a game with your little sister and
the kids from next door, it could be a Grandpa who
makes you laugh, or it could be the snow crunching
under the runners of your pushsled during a race.
Or, like for Pete, it could be the first year of school,
which is coming up soon. And then there’s Dad, who
starts to change. Pete begins hearing voices from the
kitchen, arguing and crying. Storming out into the
night. The child trusts his parents unconditionally, admires them, is full of hope and faith in the future. What happens when this image falls to pieces?
On Dark Waters is a disarmingly sensitive and
frequently delightful story of growth. Relying on
small observations, objects, scents, and moods,
Franzén carries the story along towards the great
drama, the moment when the idyll of childhood
is shattered.
“Actor Peter Franzén makes
a respectable entrée into the
role of author.”
SHORTLISTED FOR THE HELSINGIN SANOMAT
DEBUT BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2010
– Helsingin Sanomat
RIGHTS AVAILABLE
Peter Franzén (b. 1971)
is one of Finland’s most
popular actors, having
performed in many hit
films and on stage, including in New York where
he was starring in Sofi
Oksanen’s Purge. Currently living and working in
both Finland and the US,
Franzén spent his childhood in northern Finland.
Sami Hilvo: The Liquor Card
(Viinakortti, Tammi 2010) 208 pages
“–– Hilvo writes well. There’s
no shortage of observations
and vision.”
Mikael arrives at his grandmother’s funeral and
finds that nothing has changed. His deceased
grandparents’ home still feels like home, and his
relatives treat him just as coldly as before. When
Mikael gets the key to his grandfather’s study, the
past takes over. The blue uniform shirt inherited
from his police chief grandfather, and the liquor
card it holds right next to the heart, are not all he
shares with his grandfather Urho after all.
The Liquor Card is a touching and intrepid tale of
forbidden love. It tells the story of two men, Urho
and Toivo, for whom the end of the war does not
bring peace. The making of compromises, a necessity in their day, didn’t end despite changes to the
laws on homosexuality: Urho’s descendants have
also remained silent. Until Mikael finds a photograph hidden inside his grandfather’s liquor card...
SHORTLISTED FOR THE HELSINGIN SANOMAT
DEBUT BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2010
RIGHTS AVAILABLE
PHOTO: PE RTTI N ISON E N
A bold, beautiful story of World War II Finland
and a love that does not find acceptance in the
world around it.
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PHOTO: CHAR LOTTA B OUCHT
A touching and finely tuned growing up story set
in northern Finland.
Sami Hilvo (b. 1967) is
at home in both Helsinki and Tokyo. He earns his
living by translating, interpreting, and practicing international trade, but more
unusual entries also appear on his CV, including bartender, diplomat,
art model and dancer. He
currently lives in Helsinki
with his Brazilian spouse.
PHOTO: VI LLE PALON E N
Jari Järvelä:
A Better World
(Parempi maailma, Tammi 2012)
A Better World is a novel about contemporary Europe, a story about the desperate struggle of individuals to belong to a
community, about the interplay between
destruction and hope in people’s lives.
Romeo and Juliet (Romeo ja Julia, Tammi
2007) 182 pages
– Parnasso
The first narrator of the novel is Naïmi,
a young refugee from Bagdad, making
the difficult journey through Europe with
her small child. Her one dream is to see
the Ishtar Gate, the ancient processional
gate through the city walls, brought to the
Pergamon museum in Berlin in the early
1900s. It is the symbol of the glory days
of legendary Babylon, the ancient melting
pot of civilizations, which still represents
for contemporary Iraqis an era of bygone
greatness and a promise of a better world.
The second narrator is a Finnish minister, sensationally fired from his position
for racist comments. He tries to clear his
name by starting his own campaign against
racists. He adopts a refugee girl as the face
and tool of his campaign, using her to try
to build his brave new world.
The third main character is a sculptor.
His story is told through a series of love
letters written in the Berlin of the 1920s–
1930s. He has moved there from stagnant
Finland, hoping to launch his career as an
artist. Willing to do anything for success,
he seeks menial labour at a museum, assembling the Ishtar Gate from millions of
tile shards.
“The subjects
apply to this
moment, the
method is
evocative and
conforms
precisely to the
currents of the
time. Despite its
peculiar lightness
and humour, this
is a frighteningly
serious novel.”
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Zombie (Zombie, Tammi 2010) 171 pages
Jari Järvelä (b. 1966) has written novels,
short stories, plays and an opera libretto. His
2007 novel Romeo and Juliet was a critical
success, Finlandia prize and Runeberg prize
nominee, and one of the books nominated for
the 2009 Nordic Council Literature Prize.
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Markku Pääskynen: Book of Angels
(Enkelten kirja, Tammi 2010) 192 pages
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“– – It is nice to see a novel that
places so much confidence in
the power of words.”
– Parnasso
RIGHTS AVAILABLE
Markku Pääskynen
(b. 1973) has written six
books. The Day of Wrath
was a Finlandia Prize nominee, and it also won him
the Kalevi Jäntti Literary
Prize. The Most Important Things in This World
(Tämän maailman tärkeimmät asiat, 2005) received
the Savonia Prize.
Riitta Jalonen: Good Night, Irma Noora
(Hyvää yötä Irma Noora, Tammi 2010) 156 pages
The box is full of photographs of strangers. While
looking at them, Noora’s foster mother Rebekka has seen a speck of light: something that, if the
people seeking her assistance head towards, will
restore balance to their lives. In one of the sessions many years ago, it was Noora’s confirmation
photograph that Aunt Rebekka examined. But not
even her protective gaze has been able to prevent
all misfortune.
When Aunt Rebekka dies unexpectedly, the
traumas of youth begin to tumble into Noora’s
carefully guarded territory. Everything changes.
Noora walks away from her ruined marriage and
returns to her childhood home, where each object
is loaded with a meaning given by Rebekka. In her
aunt’s kingdom, Noora feels safe, but is the path
to becoming a seer indicated by Rebekka right for
her after all? Or would it be most important to be
seen herself?
RIGHTS AVAILABLE
PHOTO: STU DIO H E I NON E N
An enigmatic tale of ghosts from the past and
new beginnings.
“Using Jalonen’s way of writing
compact paragraphs, you can fit
several novels into 150 pages.”
– Suomen Kuvalehti
Tuomas has been a single dad to Aino for so long
that she no longer asks him where Mommy is.
When Tuomas loses his job and his house burns
down, things start feeling irredeemably hopeless.
But then into the picture steps an old friend, who
decides to save Tuomas and bring him back to the
land of the living.
Book of Angels is an intense and poetic description of the waning of an individual’s strength and
his slow ascent to fresh hope. It is a story of consolation, a bold description of the grandeur of the
small, everyday things in life, of the fundamental
questions of existence. Why, and for whom, do we
live? What is love?
Pääskynen once again exhibits an astounding
capacity, familiar to readers of The Day of Wrath
(Vihan päivä, 2006) to see deep into the human
heart.
PHOTO: VI LLE PALON E N
A young father’s stunningly intensely depicted
trial of strength in a time of difficulty.
Riitta Jalonen’s (b. 1954)
picture book trilogy has
been translated into numerous languages. Its first volume, The Girl and the Jackdaw Tree (Tyttö ja naakkapuu, 2004), won the Finlandia Junior Award. Jalonen’s novel The Imaginary Man (Kuvittele itsellesi
mies) won the Runeberg
Prize in 2006.
PHOTO: H E I N I LE HVÄSLAI HO
Maria Peura:
Under the Water
(Vedenaliset, Teos 2008) 165 pages
Maria Peura’s third novel Under the Water is a
powerful story of a girl who grows up with her parents
on an isolated island in Finnish Lapland.
When she moves to a university town to study German
language and literature, she is unable to adapt to her new
surroundings, with even escalators provoking fear and
wonder in her. The girl doesn’t know her limits at all,
nor does she know how to behave. She is an untamed
child of nature in the wrong environment. The girl nevertheless manages to find some friends among the immigrant community. Peura’s sprawling novel is overflowing with sea winds, the storms of inner life, and the
powerful presence of nature.
At the Edge of Light
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(Valon reunalla, Teos 2005) 165 pages
At the Edge of Light is a suffocating story of a true-life
Romeo and a Juliet born somewhere in the far north,
in a world of permafrost and insufferable people.
The novel is set in a close village community and tells
the story of a girl and the boy she loves. Burning passion threatens to consume the lovers, and other people
are a source of pain, but there is also room for absurd,
ad-hoc humour. Peura describes her characters beautifully, heartbreakingly and with great honesty. Readers
fear for them, and hope that the passion and curiosity
that these young lovers struggle so vainly to conceal will
not completely destroy them.
(On rakkautes ääretön, Tammi 2001) 224 pages
A shocking yet bright work about a harsh subject.
Your Love Is Infinite tells about 6-year-old Saara, who has
been taken to her grandparents’ house for the summer
because her parents aren’t able to care for her. Grandpa
is the only adult Saara believes loves her, but it is precisely his violent love that drives Saara into a world of fantasy and guilt. Saara longs for her mother, but she isn’t
able to help, and Saara is left to her grandfather’s mercy.
Without blaming anyone, Peura weaves a taut, beautiful, powerful tale about a difficult subject: incest. She
writes about children’s trust and dependence, and how
they manage to survive.
“The impressive paradox of Peura’s work
is that the novel is good and beautiful even
though it deals with what is evil and ugly.”
– Finlandia Prize Committee
COVE R S: I LONA I LOTTU
Your Love Is Infinite
Maria
Peura’s
(b. 1970) At
the Edge of Light
received great
reviews both in Finland
and in the UK, where it
was published in 2007. Her debut, Your Love Is Infinite, was shortlisted for the Finlandia Prize in 2001.
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Laura Lindstedt: Scissors
(Sakset, Teos 2007) 240 pages
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Scissors is a story of a woman, Maria, who adopts
a little girl from China. Great expectations and the
desire to love turn to inadequateness before the
child’s blank stare. What happens if a child doesn’t
respond at all? Or if the mother and the child are
afraid of each other?
Lindstedt writes boldly about a woman’s life
and the need to love one’s child. The novel discusses sensitive matters that are not often talked about:
the distance between child and parent, the fear of
failure and finally a mother’s mental instability.
Scissors manifests both a great command of language and structure and a skilful ability to manipulate plot.
“She was a writer before she
ever wrote her first novel.”
SHORTLISTED FOR THE FINLANDIA
PRIZE IN 2007
– Keskisuomalainen
RIGHTS AVAILABLE
Laura Lindstedt (b. 1976)
is a literary researcher, a
critic and an essayist. She
is writing her Ph.D. on the
life and works of Nathalie
Sarraute. Lindstedt is working on a new novel to be
published in 2012.
COVE R: E LI NA WAR STA
Annina Holmberg: Echo
(Kaiku, Siltala 2009) 371 pages
The magical world of theater is seen first through
the wondering eyes of a child, and then from the
vantage of a young adult consumed by current
events. At the same time, the text takes on a darker
tone: the family must come to terms with political
conflict, alcoholism, and culture wars. A daughter
who zealously defends her parents grows to adulthood and sees her past from a new perspective. “I
know the daughter’s lines, but I’ve still got plenty
of work to do on the mother’s role,” the narrator
states, upon realizing that she more readily identifies with the classic father figures of literature than
the mothers. An echo responds from the past, as
the bunny-rabbit trembling in the bushes develops
through self-awareness and self-acceptance into a
tigress defending her young.
“ ‘Echo’ discusses motherhood in
an entertaining manner, spiced
with witty theatrical anecdotes.”
RIGHTS AVAILABLE
PHOTO: LAU RA MALM IVAARA
Annina Holmberg’s fresh narrative voice
describes growing up in a bohemian family of
artists.
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– Uusi Suomi
PHOTO: H E I N I LE HVÄSLAI HO
Laura Lindstedt’s impressive novel Scissors
succeeds in developing from a description of
contemporary adoptive parenthood and mother
hood into a discourse on fundamental issues.
Annina Holmberg
(b.1964) has studied literature and theatre sciences.
Presently, she is writing a
new novel, Tabernacles,
an intense story about a
much-revealing get-together of five schoolmates. It is
when the friends evaluate
and compare their present
values that everything
starts to unravel.
Essi Kummu: Death of the Bear
(Karhun kuolema, Tammi 2010) 213 pages
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“ ‘Karhun kuolema’ is a ballad
that you cannot pin down to a
specific time or place.”
– Hämeen Sanomat
Death of the Bear is a lyrical, down-to-earth story of
family members painfully searching for their place
in this world. Mumma dies but refuses to rest. She
cannot; she is simply incapable of it. The paralyzed
old woman was at the mercy of her daughter Fanny
while she was alive, but now she is free and everything remains unfinished. Fanny’s son Alex is rootless. His relationship with a round-cheeked Inuit
doesn’t bring him peace of mind, nor does returning to his homeland, where his cool and distant
mother awaits. Only Fanny’s sister Stella, a healer
shunned by her fellow villagers, knows her place:
she will become the bear’s bride. But only those
who are bound forcefully enough to the earth can
find comfort in the arms of the bear.
“The bear would shamble up and she would
become the bear’s and everything would be the
way it was and no one would be able to do anything about it.”
PHOTO: SARA AH DE
A ballad of unrequited love.
Essi Kummu’s debut
novel Mania was released
in 2006 to great reviews.
Death of the Bear was
shortlisted for the Tiiliskivi
Prize in 2010. Kummu
also writes for the media,
the fine arts and dance.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE TIILISKIVI PRIZE IN 2010
Riina Katajavuori: Gifts
(Lahjat, Tammi 2004) 222 pages
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“ ‘Gifts’ is a modest, but ambitious
novel about motherhood ––
narrated with an original voice.”
Tuulia is a housewife with a husband and two children. She is adamant about staying home as long as
their youngest is still small, but at times she longs to
return to the safer, more familiar halls of academia.
How to pass the tests of motherhood and
parenting without flunking? Tuulia feels that she
is an intermediary, carefully weighing her values
and attitudes before passing them on. Her social
life is also restructured, as other mothers step into
view: a peer group with which she can share the
growing pains of the playground.
Gifts is a novel that seeks to find the roots of the
everyday, to remember the things that we often forget. Life with children is not an epic tale, but one
built up of small, often irrelevant little events and
associations – the details that are effaced in the
face of more dramatic life changes.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE RUNEBERG PRIZE
IN 2004
RIGHTS AVAILABLE
PHOTO: LE E NA H U KKAN E N
A story about mothers and generations, and how
wishes and expectations are passed from one
generation to the next.
Riina Katajavuori
(b. 1968) writes lyrical but
precise prose about the
everyday. She describes
motherhood with its different dimensions touchingly,
tangibly, and above all compassionately. Katajavuori’s
poems have been translated
into over twenty languages.
She has also written a series of picture books.
COVE R: H E LE NA KAJAN DE R
Merete Mazzarella: Travel at a Discount
(Resa med rabatt, Söderströms 2010) 242 pages
PUBLISHED IN FINNISH BY TAMMI.
This is a motto the former professor of literature
has reason to return to more than once after recently becoming a pensioner. It may be about a
film show for the elderly which is suddenly cancelled, or a front tooth that breaks. Annoying –
but bite with the teeth you have left and be happy!
Mazzarella writes about her family and the
friends she grew up with. She observes her own
ageing, with both amusement and concern. And
she writes about how people have regarded oldage at different periods – from the time of the Ancient Greeks to the youth-fixated media society
of today. “You’re surely not old at the age of sixty-three. You’re not, surely?” she asks herself, revealing a mastery of style, a humour and a speed
of association.
Travel at a Discount is a book for readers of any
and every age, for we’re all in the same boat, even
though some are sitting in the bows and some in
the stern.
“–– a most entertaining work,
written in a tone of cheerful
melancholy, more chat than
facts.”
AWARDED THE STATE PRIZE FOR ART IN 2002
– Expressen
RIGHTS AVAILABLE
Merete Mazzarella
(b. 1945) made her debut
in 1979 with the autobiographical First They Sold
the Piano. Since then she
has honed her style as an
essayist, blending learned
reflections and literary
quotations with personal thoughts and ideas in a
permanent dialogue with
the reader.
COVE R: OTTO DON N E R
Annika Luther: City of the Homeless
(De hemlösas stad , Söderströms 2011) 200 pages
“Annika Luther’s hilarious story
is a literary jackpot.”
PHOTO: CATA PORTI N
An incredibly exciting dystopia,
like Margaret Atwood for youngsters.
Following a climate catastrophe in the year 2035,
large parts of Finland are under water. Helsinki has
been evacuated, and the inhabitants have all been
moved up north. The children live a sheltered life
there, with kantele music, sport and mobile phone
supervision, largely ignorant of the world outside.
But fifteen-year-old Lilja, who was born in Helsinki,
wants to find out about her roots. She runs away and
makes her way to Helsinki, where people from all over
the world have settled after their own homes were
inundated. There she is able to live with an Indian
family – and try to survive in a totally different Helsinki from the one she – and we – are familiar with.
In Luther’s dystopia there is also humour, and
identification with the young protagonist and her teenage temperament. And a realisation that life always
goes on, in some form or other, despite everything.
– Savon Sanomat
PHOTO: CHAR LOTTA B OUCHT
“Don’t be offended, be happy!”
Annika Luther (b. 1958)
took up writing in the 90s,
continued because of the
unexpected pleasure it
brought. She has since
written five youth novels
and a history-book about
Helsinki.
Luther’s ‘A Letter to the Edge of the Land’ was
SHORTLISTED FOR THE FINLANDIA JUNIOR PRIZE
AND WINNER OF THE TOPELIUS PRIZE IN 2008
RIGHTS AVAILABLE
Katri Lipson: Cosmonaut
(Kosmonautti, Tammi 2008) 199 pages
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“ ‘Cosmonaut’ is as oppressive
as any Russian classic, and as
fresh as the first head-rush
from a pure glass of vodka.”
– Sara
PHOTO: EVA PE R SSON
An enchanting novel about the fragility of
dreams.
Svetlana Kovalevna is a music teacher who is mercilessly bullied at her job. However, there has been
one ray of sunshine in her working life: Serjoza, a
shy boy who was secretly head over heels in love
with her. Serjoza’s father was useless after all, and
eventually froze to death in the snow while out
drinking. Now things seem to take a turn for the
better when an old documentary arouses the sympathies of the Kremlin and the rest of the world
for the would-be cosmonaut. But where is Serjoza?
Lipson writes like the Russian Classics at their
best. The reader finds herself in the middle of Murmansk in the 1980s, experiencing its scents, its colours, and its way of speaking. The reader feels immediately at home, regardless of whether he or she
has actually been there: he feels ashamed about the
mottled wallpaper in his rental flat, and burns his
palm on a hot glass of tea. And finds relief.
Katri Lipson (b. 1965)
is a medical doctor who
has always been writing something: fairytales,
short stories, poems,
plays, novels. Her forthcoming novel takes place
in Czechoslovakia during
three turning points in that
WINNER OF THE HELSINGIN SANOMAT DEBUT BOOK nation’s history. The book
OF THE YEAR AWARD AND SHORTLISTED FOR THE
is due to be published in
FINLANDIA PRIZE IN 2008. RIGHTS AVAILABLE
2012.
Veronica Pimenoff: Heroclipse
(Sankarin seisaus, Tammi 2010) 280 pages
“Besides being a well-told
novel, Pimenoff’s book is also
an important one.”
– Savon Sanomat
Mythical and historical events drift past in the
backdrop of this long-anticipated novel, offering
points of repetition and comparison. The hero has
suckled at the breast of the Statue of Liberty and
gone on wild rampages while carrying out the arbitrary orders of his masters, in hopes of ascending
into their lofty company. When vandalism is met
with vandalism and war intensifies, he slows down.
The fickle leaders, who move people like pawns
in playing out their own conflicts, are not capable of bringing order to the field, nor can the hero
figure out how to release his pent-up energy. The
air conditioning hums as worlds collide, buildings
slide to the earth, identities blur, and thoughts
run wild. Heroclipse originated in one skull and
two fists at the commencement of the final third
of 2001.
PHOTO: KAR I HYTTI N E N
The migrant, arriving in the US from Asia via
Europe, is almost at his destination, as he has
an entrance pass to the Pentagon hanging
around his neck.
Veronica Pimenoff
(b. 1949) is an author,
anthropologist and psychiatrist. Her previous
work, the novel C (Tammi
2005), presented a challenging view of a crumbling Europe. In 2009
Pimenoff was awarded
with the Pro Finlandia
Medal for her writing.
RIGHTS AVAILABLE
PHOTO: LAU R I MAN N E R MAA
Anna-Lena Laurén:
Since I Came to Moscow
(Sedan jag kom till Moskva, Söderströms 2010)
Anna-Lena Laurén is known as a committed Russia
correspondent but she is also known for the
personal, entertaining way in which she writes.
In her new book she describes her life in Moscow, not
only as a foreign correspondent but also as a single
young woman with a good job and many friends, and
yet experiencing loneliness, an emptiness that cannot
be filled. Frankly and bravely, she tells about her single existence, the people she meets, the social life of
a pulsating metropolis, and her relationship with her
parents and relatives back home in Finland, which she
loves. She tells about dates and male friends, whom
she describes with humour and warmth.
They’re Not All There,
Those Russians
(De är inte kloka, de där ryssarna, Söderströms 2008)
This is a book of snapshots of modern Russia. It is
written with humour and warmth, anger and
passion, joy and wonder – feelings which one
cannot live without in Russia.
In the Mountains There
Are No Masters
(I bergen finns inga herrar, Söderströms 2009)
COVERS: HELENA KAJANDER
“Late into June motorists drive about Moscow with
the black and orange victory ribbons tied to their radio aerials. When I see a dusty Lada going past with
the ribbon flying from the aerial, so dirty you can’t
recognise it, I think two things.
1. Of course it is fine that one can be so proud of
one’s country, that the Russians know their history
and gain strength from it.
2. There goes somebody who can’t afford anything
but a Zhiguli, as he lives in a country that only rewards the strongest. Nevertheless, he glorifies the system. Poor devil.”
Anna-Lena Laurén
(b. 1976) is well-
known in Scandinavia as a columnist and
reporter with a personal touch and great commitment in her writing. That
was one of the reasons why
she won the Finland-Swedish
journalist award, the Topelius
Prize, in 2002. Laurén was
awarded the State Journalist
Award in 2010 for news reporting.
Steep mountains, a high sky and an multiplicity of
different ethnic groups – that is the Caucasus.
Anna-Lena Laurén is one of the few western journalists who regularly travel about the region and who
has thoroughly familiarised herself with the conflicts
that smoulder in South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Ingushetia, North Ossetia, Chechnya, Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria. In this book she travels from North
Caucasus, which belongs to Russia, to Georgia. The
book is written with journalistic expertise, insight and
love, which are Laurén’s trademark.
ALL TITLES PUBLISHED IN FINNISH BY TAMMI.
D TO
S O L WAY,
S
T
R
H
R I G IA, N O RAI N E
S
R U S D E N, U K
SWE
Jyrki Vainonen: At Swift’s Door
(Swiftin ovella, Tammi 2012)
RIGHTS AVAILABLE
PHOTO: MAR KKO TAI NA
Jyrki Vainonen (b. 1963) is an award-winning Finnish author who is renowned for his
Finnish translations of the works of Seamus
Heaney, Jonathan Swift and William Shakespeare. He has lived in Ireland and wrote his
licentiate thesis on Swift’s Irish pamphlets.
Lennart Beren, having just spent five years in Ireland, gets a phone call from an old friend, Johannes Kelps, who will be dying soon. ”I want you to
finish my book”, Johannes says. After the death of
Johannes, Lennart moves into his house, as agreed.
There he discovers a secret room with a strange
device, and suddenly Lennart finds himself back
in Ireland. But he has also travelled back in time,
and has become Watt, a man-servant of Jonathan
Swift. Soon he – and the reader – is initiated into
the life of the famous satirist.
This highly inventive novel is a dramatic tale
of ill fate and a brave fight against injustice. The
drama unfolds in part in a fictitious Finnish setting, in part in Ireland in the 18th century. And
the drama ends, finally, where it all began: in the
house of Johannes Kelps, once a famous scientist
who withdrew suddenly from the academic world
and bought an old, remote house in the country.
Why? What happened to him?
E
M PL
H SA I ON
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Towers (Tornit, Tammi
2009) is a perceptive and
psychologically-charged
story, mixed with the
elements of fantasy,
erotica and horror. It is
a unique story of death,
revenge and atonement
from a true Master of
Surprise.
COVE R: M I KA KETTU N E N
Erkki Tuomioja: Jaan Tõnisson
(Jaan Tõnisson, Tammi 2010) 352 pages
TO
OLD
TS S N IA
H
G
R I E S TO
Erkki Tuomioja (b. 1946) is the former
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Member of the Parliament, Chairman of the
Grand Committee and a Ph.D. in political
science. He is author of 18 books.
In the history of the first period of Estonian independence (1918–1940), two names stand out
from the rest: Jaan Tõnisson and Konstantin Päts.
Päts started out a leftist radical but ended as authoritarian dictator. Tõnisson, on the other hand,
was a nationalist rightwing newspaperman who
ended his career as the leader of the liberal opposition and died in circumstances that remain unclear after his arrest after the Soviet occupation.
The cooperation, competition and conflicts between these two men left a powerful mark on the
events of independent Estonia prior to the occupation of the country. This tension sustains this fascinating – and, surprisingly enough, first – work
written about Tõnisson, which is, like many of the
works that openly delve into Estonia’s recent past,
the handiwork of Finnish historical researcher.
A DELICATE SHADE OF PINK: WINNER OF THE
FINLANDIA NON-FICTION PRIZE 2006.
RIGHTS SOLD TO SWEDEN, ESTONIA, GERMANY,
INDIA
The next provocative work to investigate
Estonia’s recent history.
H
G LI S
L EN
F U L T E XT
A Delicate Shade of Pink
(Häivähdys punaista,
Tammi 2006) The result
of ten years’ extensive
research is a revealing
insight about the lives of
two women, and of their
surprisingly remarkable
political influence in their
new home countries,
Finland and the UK.
PHOTO: LAU R I MAN N E R MAA
G LI S
L EN
F U L T E XT
COVE R: J U R I PATR I KAI N E N
Kari Nars:
Swindling Billions
H
(Miten miljoonia huijataan , Tammi 2009) 216 pages
The colourful history of great money fraudsters. A thrilling read of
the most unscrupulous swindles of mankind published in English
in March 2011!
Throughout the history of mankind unscrupulous financial crooks
have swindled billions from their gullible victims. These sophisticated crimes are spreading like wildfire. Bernard Madoff’s incredible 65
billion dollar pyramid ruined thousands of Americans, including millionaire Jewish businessmen, Hollywood film personalities and cancer charities. He is the Criminal of the Century.
Ten of the world’s most interesting financial swindles are examined by Dr. Kari Nars in this unique book Swindling Billions. He reviews the nature and working methods of some of the great money
fraudsters: what kind of people they really are, their thought processes, how they succeeded in cheating thousands of wealthy people, and
what kind of people are liable to fall victim to such scams. Do they
at all regret their nasty deeds?
Dr. Kari Nars has a long and distinguished career in various high banking
positions in London, Washington and Paris, and as a director of Finland’s
central bank and Ministry of Finance. He has published several books,
and was chief editor and main writer of Excellence in Debt Management
by Euromoney Books in London.
K
HE U
TO T O R E A
D
L
S O AN D K
HTS
R I G R MANY
E
G
,
Also representing
the bestselling authors
Please request your copy!
Rights enquiries:
Elina Ahlbäck, Literary Agent, CEO
Telephone: +358 400 548 402 • E-mail: [email protected]
Address: Korkeavuorenkatu 37 • FI-00130 Helsinki, Finland
Website: ahlbackagency.com
A Bonnier Group Company

If you like Johan Theorin, you`ll love Marko Hautala

Transcription

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