The Moonday Letters

Emmi Itäranta

Original title: Kuunpäivän kirjeet

Author: Emmi Itäranta

Published: 2020

Publisher: Teos

Genre: Fantasy & Science Fiction

Pages: 300

Reading material:

English edition

A scifi mystery and a love story that bends space, time, myth and science.

The Moonday Letters has elements of clifi, elements of suspense, and feels Golden Age-y in its imagination of how space has been colonized in the wake of Earth’s transformation.

Lumi is an Earth-born healer whose Mars-born spouse Sol disappears unexpectedly on a work trip. As Lumi begins her quest to find Sol, she delves gradually deeper into Sol’s secrets – and her own.

While recalling her own path to becoming a healer under the guidance of her mysterious teacher Vivian, she discovers an underground environmental group called Stoneturners, which may have something to do with Sol’s disappearance. Lumi’s search takes her from the wealthy colonies of Mars to Earth that has been left a shadow of its former self due to vast environmental destruction. Gradually, she begins to understand that Sol’s fate may have been connected to her own for much longer than she thought.

Part space-age epistolary, part eco-thriller, The Moonday Letters is also a love story between two individuals from very different worlds.

Praise:

“Itäranta's language is beautiful, and depictions almost poetic. The story grows, as emotions, clues, past, secrets and truth open like flowers. The plot flows forward and the mystery keeps readers hooked up. And it is a pleasure to read.” - Helsingin Sanomat newspaper

"Strong ethical questions, a deeply and thoughtfully constructed multidimensional world of stories, beautifully and delicately rhythmic language, and the belief in one’s ability to do what's right permeate the novel." - Turun Sanomat newspaper

"’The Moonday Letters’ is melancholic but hauntingly beautiful. It's like a song of love and endless homesockness. It's about yearning forthe past that is lost because of our actions." - Maaseudun Tulevaisuus newspaper

"Emmi Itäranta is an outstanding voice of the contemporary Finnish literature. Her new book MOONDAY LETTERS seems to be a work of genre, but it is much more than a sci-fi or cli-fi novel as it deals with both everlasting and burning up-to-date themes in a unique poetic frame and language. I am thrilled that we can present it to Czech readers in cooperation with the experienced translator Michal Švec."

Jitka Hanušová, Kniha Zlin, Albatros Media, Czech republic

Emmi Itäranta is an outstanding voice of the contemporary Finnish literature. Her new book MOONDAY LETTERS seems to be a work of genre, but it is much more than a sci-fi or cli-fi novel as it deals with both everlasting and burning up-to-date themes in a unique poetic frame and language.

– Jitka Hanušová, Kniha Zlin, Albatros Media, Czech Republic

Download reading materials

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Teos (orig.)
CZECHIA: Albatros Media
HUNGARY: Metropolis Media Group
WORLD ENGLISH (print, e-book): Titan Books ; WORLD ENGLISH (audio): Recorded Books

Video

Foreign covers

About author

Emmi Itäranta

Emmi Itäranta (b.1976) holds two MA degrees, one in Drama and another in Creative Writing. Her award-winning debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) was published in Finland in 2012 to great accolades, followed by The Weaver (Kudottujen kujien kaupunki) in 2015. Her latest novel The Moonday Letters (Kuunpäivän kirjeet) was published in September 2020.

Itäranta’s writing has been compared to that of Ursula K. Le Guin. Her honours include the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize 2013, the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize 2012 and first place in the Teos Fantasy and Sci-Fi Literary Contest 2011.

Memory of Water has sold to over 25 languages to date, and it has also been nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award recognizing the best science fiction novel published in the UK in 2014, and the Golden Tentacle award. In addition, Itäranta has been included on the Honor List of the Otherwise Award (formerly James Tiptree, Jr. Award).

Itäranta’s CV is an eclectic mix of writing-related activities, including stints as a columnist, theatre critic, press officer and dramaturge. Her poems, short stories, articles and essays have appeared in anthologies, film magazines and science fiction magazines in the UK and Finland. She now lives in Finland after 14 years in the United Kingdom.

Bibliography


2020, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Emmi Itäranta

The Moonday Letters


2015, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Emmi Itäranta

The Weaver


2012, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Emmi Itäranta

Memory of Water