French rights for My Friend Natalia acquired by Gallimard

French rights to Laura Lindstedt’s new vibrant and literary daring novel, My Friend Natalia have been sold to Gallimard. We are thrilled and congratulate Laura Lindstedt’s publishers around the world: My Friend Natalia will be published in 11 territories and counting! Recently, North American rights were acquired by W.W. Norton/Liveright and 9 European deals closed over the summer, making this property one of the hottest Finnish novels ever.

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Laura Lindstedt is ‘a rock-star of literature’!
– Aamulehti newspaper, Finland 15.3.2019   ****

Finland’s leading literary magazine, Parnasso writes in their review:

“Laura Lindstedt (born 1976) won the Finlandia Prize in 2015. The 45-minute therapy sessions in her third novel uncover new worlds and perspectives. But these sessions go far beyond professional ethics and a normal duty of care…My Friend Natalia is a surprisingly easy read and a liberating, almost boisterous, book.”

My Friend Natalia  (Teos 2019, 240 pp.) is a thrilling exploration of gender, sexuality, and power following an ambitious therapist and a patient with a unique psychological obsession who become entangled in a complicated, explosive relationship.

The narrator of My Friend Natalia is a therapist whose gender is deliberately left undisclosed. The story begins when Natalia arrives at her therapist’s surgery. Natalia is having problems in her sexual life. Her thoughts obsessively swirl around the subject of sex, but during the act itself, her mind drifts elsewhere. Natalia has had a vast number of sexual partners, but these relationships never last long. Why are fantasy and reality so far removed in Natalia’s life? Is Natalia’s hypersexuality a symptom of a deeper problem? Running through the novel is the question of power. Who is ultimately guiding the course of these sessions – the therapist or Natalia? And which of them is the true narrator of the novel?

About the author:

Laura Lindstedt is a Finlandia-winner and one of the most celebrated young Finnish authors of recent years: her novels verge on the postmodern and experiment with form and language in an accessible style. The Finlandia winning novel Oneiron has been sold in 14 territories, and over 50,000 copies sold in Finland. Her works have been translated into 18 languages so far. Laura Lindstedt is currently revising her PhD on French author Nathalie Sarraute and touring the world to promote her works.

FINLAND:
Teos (orig.)
BELGIUM:
De Bezige Bij
ESTONIA:
Rahva Raamat
FRANCE:
Gallimard
HUNGARY:
Scolar Kiado
ITALY:
Elliot Edizioni
NETHERLANDS:
De Bezige Bij
NORWAY:
Oktober
ROMANIA:
Humanitas Fiction
SWEDEN:
Norstedts
UNITED STATES:
W. W. Norton/Liveright

About author


Laura Lindstedt

Laura Lindstedt (b. 1976) became a critical darling with her adoption-themed debut novel Scissors (Sakset, Teos 2007), which earned her a nomination for the Finlandia Prize, the country’s most prestigious literary honour. Lindstedt’s second novel Oneiron (Teos 2015), a work of speculative fiction that takes place in the mysterious moments that follow one’s death, earned her the coveted Finlandia Prize of 2015 and was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 2017. Lindstedt’s success has continued with My Friend Natalia (Teos 2019) which has earned critical acclaim and has been sold to 12 territories. Together with author Sinikka Vuola, she has authored 101 tapaa tappaa aviomies (101 Ways to Kill Your Husband, Siltala 2022) which has been nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize of 2024.

She is currently completing her Ph.D. thesis on French author Nathalie Sarraute.

Bibliography


2019, Literary Fiction

My Friend Natalia

Laura Lindstedt


2015, Literary Fiction

Oneiron

Laura Lindstedt


2007, Literary Fiction

Scissors

Laura Lindstedt