Feel-Good Fiction from Finland!

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Feel-Good is here to stay!
Did you know that Finland has been ranked the happiest country in the World for three consecutive years? One of the reasons for this might be the Finns’ knack for Feel-Good literature!

Although the fall weather is rough, we are glad to have some fuzzy titles to keep us positive! Find the funniest, happiest titles with the best atmosphere for your publishing house below.

 
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WORD by Emmi Pesonen

Warm, humorous and beautiful debut novel from the point of view of a stepmother. Patchwork family life, and new beginnings.

  • Debut novel by acclaimed screenwriter and actress
  • Feature film in development by Aurora Studios

Amanda’s life is revolutionized when Onni curves into her life with a yellow minibus, chaos and four children riding along. She has been living an extended youth and cared mainly for her house plants until she met Onni and his kids. Happiness, the laundry pile and the dish mountains grow in their new home.

When Onni’s behavior starts to get weirder, she has to decide if love truly fixes everything.

Ask for the English sample for The Most Beautiful Word by clicking here.

 
FACELIFT by Miika Nousiainen

  • Newest title, sold already to Germany and Estonia!

Sami’s biological clock has been ticking for the past 15 years so loudly that sometimes it’s hard to hear his own thoughts.

But when his latest future-mother-candidate rides off with a biker guy, he makes a series of bad choices that cause him to anger the local motorcycle gang. How to fix a life where everything seems to go wrong? Sanni, a wellbeing blogger with perfectly instagrammable life arrives to offer a solution.

Ask for the English sample for Facelift by clicking here.

 
ROOTS by Miika Nousianen

Onni Kirnuvaara left to get groceries when his son was just a child – and never returned.
Years later, during a root canal treatment, the son finds out that he has a dentist brother, left behind as a child just like him.

The brothers embark on a journey to find out the truth about their father. After many detours, they find themselves in the Australian outback.

On their way to Darwin, secrets are revealed, new family members are found, and lengths of dental floss are needed. Digging to the roots hurts, but under the Southern Cross the ache starts to ease.

Ask for the English sample and synopsis for Roots by clicking here.

 
CHARLOTTA by Sara Medberg

Strict class hierarchy and fabulous silk ruffles rule in 19th-century Turku, Finland, where seamstress Charlotta is looking for her own Mr. Darcy.

Can an ordinary lady’s maid have it all: a meaningful life and the man of her dreams?

Ask for the English sample for Charlotta by clicking here.

 
HOPE NEVER DIES by Minna Lindgren

Marja Vehmarvarsi is a 62-year-old teacher, on the verge of retirement.

Marja’s parents Aina and Toivo are almost 100 years old, but nevertheless passionate YouTubers, whose goal is to save the Finnish school system – whatever it takes.

Marja’s popularity among the students grows as her parents’ radical plans spread over the internet.

Ask for the English sample and synopsis for Hope Never DIes by clicking here.

 
ANGRY WIDOW by Minna Lindgren

74-year-old Ulla has cared for her mean and slightly alcoholic paralyzed husband for the last 12 years.

At his funeral, all she can think is: finally! She reconnects with old friends and starts living every day as if it were her last.

The Angry Widow is an amusing and entertaining story about what it means to be seventy in a world where everyone over 65 ticks the same age box in a survey.

Ask for the English sample and synopsis for Angry Widow by clicking here.

 
SUNSET GROVE TRILOGY by Minna Lindgren

1st book:
Death in Sunset Grove is a devilishly funny and suspenseful story about old age, friendship and life in a relatively ordinary retirement home. Here the only fate worse than death is being drugged up and locked away inside the dementia ward. Even the sharpest senior can’t decipher all the nuances of this place; thankfully a few young people, including members of the biker gang and a grandchild’s boyfriend, offer some help.
2nd book: Residents Siiri, Irma and Anna-Liisa, all older than 90, decide to move from the retirement home into a shared apartment in the exotic neighbourhood of Hakaniemi

3rd book: The final part of the trilogy marks a return to the retirement community. But the place no longer feels like home, and has turned into a state-funded, technology-driven pilot project in elderly care. The conclusion brings together characters lost along the way, and murky details are brought to light. Legal justice is also served – in unexpected ways. A natural, long-awaited death finally collects some, but still not all, of our main characters.

Ask for the full English pdfs for Sunset Grove trilogy by clicking here.

About author


Emmi Pesonen

Emmi Pesonen (1977) is a Helsinki-based writer, screenwriter and actress. She graduated in 2001 as a Master of Theater Arts and has worked as an actor in several in theaters, movies, and TV series. Pesonen is bilingual (Finnish-Swedish) and she has translated and dramatized Swedish-language plays. She is also the screenwriter of a movie The Violin Player (Violinist, Mjölk Movies), which premiered in Finland in 2018, and has toured successfully at more than 20 film festivals around the world (including Gothenburg, Moscow, Singapore, Kaliningrad). The film deals with power structures in the art world, passion and giving up.  The Most Beautiful Word (Otava, August 2020) is Pesonen’s debut novel. The book tells a story of a patchwork family from the point of view of the new step-mother. It’s a story of endless love, irreversible decision and learning new things. The movie rights have been optioned by Aurora Studios and a film is currently being developed.

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About author


Miika Nousiainen

Miika Nousiainen writes sharp, gentle and often tragicomical novels about surprising themes like long-distance running, the desire to be Swedish, and dentistry. He works as a journalist and writes also for television.

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About author


Minna Lindgren

Minna Lindgren (b. 1963) is a freelance journalist and columnist known for her whimsical writing style and fearless approach to topics as strange as opera and death. In addition to novels, she has authored nonfiction books on classical music. In 2009, Lindgren won the Bonnier Journalism Prize for her article entitled “Father’s Death” (“Isän kuolema”).

Lindgren is best known for the Sunset Grove trilogy, which has been sold to 18 territories, and the final part, The End of Sunset Grove, was nominated for the International Dublin Literature Award in 2019. She has also written four standalone novels and a non-fiction book about the history of opera.

Minna Lindgren’s books have been critical and commercial successes, in Finland and internationally.

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About author


Sara Medberg

Sara Medberg is a historian currently writing her doctoral dissertation about the education of highborn girls in the 18th century. The ideas for her novels come from her research. In her thesis she studies young womens' conduct manuals in Sweden in the 18th century from the perspective of the modernising ideals for women and the upbringing of girls.

Sara has received academic scholarships from the Swedish Cultural Foundation, Waldemar von Frenckell's Foundation and the Swedish Literature Society. Including others, her literary work is sponsored by the Finnish Author Association and Otava's Book Foundation.

Medberg enjoys costume dramas, fashion from the past, castles, mansions, shopping and running. Her novels have sold over 90,000 copies across all territories.

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