Ukrainian rights for DEFIANCE by Tommi Kinnunen sold!

We are happy to share the news that Booksetter has acquired the Ukrainian rights for DEFIANCE by Tommi Kinnunen! This is the 10th foreign deal for the title. The deal was closed by Satu Sallantaus at Ahlbäck Agency.

Tommi Kinnunen will be donating the advance to an Ukrainian charity.

REQUEST MATERIALS FOR DEFIANCE HERE

An affecting novel about five women, their wartime choices, their losses, and shame

In the early summer of 1945, five women embark on a homeward journey from a Norwegian prison camp through the burned Lapland. The women do not ask each other why they went with the Germans. Some of them do not understand it themselves.

The Second World War is coming to an end, and that which was acceptable yesterday has once again become punishable. What do the choices made during exceptional times look like during peacetime? What are the moments like when one makes irreversible decisions? What is it like to come back knowing that no-one wants you back? Tommi Kinnunen’s novel takes place in the midst of a vast wilderness, on the road, free from the closed rooms which have only had room for mens’ turbulent emotions.

Defiance is an impressive novel about fear and letting go, but also about laughter and the feeling of togetherness that flickers from time to time.

DEFIANCE by Tommi Kinnunen
Ei kertonut katuvansa
, WSOY 2020, 351 pp.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)
CROATIA: Hena
DENMARK: Gyldendal/Cicero
ESTONIA: Varrak
HUNGARY: Magyar Napló
LATVIA: Zvaigzne
LITHUANIA: Alma Littera
NORTH MACEDONIA: Antolog
NORWAY: Pax Forlag
POLAND: Poznanskie
UKRAINE: Booksetter

Reading materials:
English sample and synopsis

About author


Tommi Kinnunen

Tommi Kinnunen (1973) was born in Kuusamo in northeastern Finland and currently lives in Turku, where he works as a teacher of Finnish language and literature. His works include novels, opera librettos, short stories, and a non-fiction title on the changes taking place in the Finnish school system. His books have sold over 400,000 copies in Finland and have been translated into 22 languages.

Kinnunen’s novels give a voice to those whose stories have been kept untold. He made a stellar debut with Where Four Roads Meet, which was shortlisted for the Finlandia Prize and won several other awards, has since been nominated for the Finlandia Prize four times, most recently for Pine Bark in 2024. His novels have all been critical and commercial successes.

His first two novels, Where Four Roads Meet and The Light Behind the Eyes, are connected by their characters and family history. The Long Open, his seventh novel, published in 2026, returns to the characters of his first two books as an independent sequel.

During his spare time, Kinnunen likes to refurbish old buildings.

Bibliography


2026, Literary Fiction

The Long Open

Tommi Kinnunen


2024, Literary Fiction

Pine Bark

Tommi Kinnunen


2022, Literary Fiction

Dark Moons

Tommi Kinnunen


2020, Literary Fiction

Defiance

Tommi Kinnunen


2018, Literary Fiction

The Glass River

Tommi Kinnunen


2016, Literary Fiction

The Light Behind the Eyes

Tommi Kinnunen


2014, Literary Fiction

Where Four Roads Meet

Tommi Kinnunen