A hilariously horrible story straight out of the school world. Finland has the best schools in the world – or does it?

Marja Vehmarvarsi is a 62-year-old teacher, on the verge of retirement. The schools in Finland have been privatized at a brisk pace, and in order to get any work hours Marja has to come up with new learning games for phenomenon-based learning curriculum, and organize weekly meetings for cross-subject synergies.

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.

A story of longing, love, and loss. For the fans of The Red Address Book – with a humoristic twist.

Kauko Koskinen is a man of order: receipts are organized, 60 years of calendars are safely stored, and every day has certain rhythms and routines. But when he gets banned from the dementia care home where his wife resides, his life turns upside down. Memories of his youth bring a person from the past back to his mind: where is his first love now? Kauko starts to track down a woman he knew sixty years ago, but is he chasing only a memory or a dream?

From internationally bestselling author of the Sunset Grove trilogy and The Angry Widow.

“A Man Called Ove meets Sex and the City”

For the past 12 years, 74-year-old Ulla has cared for her paralyzed husband, a mean and slightly alcoholic man. 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. Her adult children try to stop her newfound debauchery in many ways – but the biggest change comes along in the guise of an older gentleman.

The Angry Widow is an amusing and entertaining story about how friendships and love affairs change when you grow old. With warmth and sarcasm Lindgren examines the questions of what it means to be seventy in a world where everyone over 65 ticks the same age box in a survey.

Rights sold (The Angry Widow):
FINLAND, Teos
CZECH REPUBLIC, XYZ
ESTONIA: Pegasus
GERMANY, Kiepenheuer & Witsch
ITALY, Marsilio
SLOVAKIA, XYZ
SPAIN, Suma / Penguin Random House

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.

RIGHTS SOLD

Original publisher: FINLAND, Teos
CZECH REPUBLIC, Albatros Media
DENMARK, Jensen & Dalgaard
ESTONIA, Varrak
GERMANY, Kiepenheuer & Witsch
FRANCE, Calmann-Lévy
ITALY, Marsilio
SLOVAKIA, Albatros Media
SPAIN, Penguin Random House
WORLD ENGLISH, Pan Macmillan

Sunset Grove retirement home turns into a kind of hell when it is taken over by foreign construction workers cursing fluently in Finnish. The noise is deafening, a hole appears in the wall, things disappear and residents have to use a portable toilet.

Residents Siiri, Irma and Anna-Liisa, all older than 90, decide to move into a shared apartment in the exotic neighbourhood of Hakaniemi. All three have their own habits and quirks, and life together isn’t entirely free of friction. The women also learn about the sad differences in quality with at-home assistance, and are forced to become familiar with terminal care and questions surrounding euthanasia.

Our heroes also can’t help looking into the suspicious plumbing project at Sunset Grove. As the mystery unfolds, they begin to find out that few people in this world have a fully clean record.

RIGHTS SOLD

Original publisher: FINLAND, Teos
CZECH REPUBLIC, Albatros Media
DENMARK, Jensen & Dalgaard
ESTONIA, Varrak
GERMANY, Kiepenheuer & Witsch
FRANCE, Calmann-Lévy
ITALY, Marsilio
SLOVAKIA, Albatros Media
SPAIN, Penguin Random House
SWEDEN, Norstedts
WORLD ENGLISH, Pan Macmillan

Who could imagine that anything illegal – whether it be suspicious deaths, thefts or the covert trading of medications – could happen in Sunset Grove retirement home? Its 90-year-old residents Siiri and Irma certainly can’t.

The lives of Siiri, Irma, and other Sunset Grove inhabitants are filled mostly with empty time punctuated by glasses of red wine, tram rides and funerals. Investigating the sudden strange occurrences at Sunset Grove, however, proves to be a more interesting pastime than playing cards with the ambassador and the woman in the wide-brimmed hat – not to mention the never-ending arts and crafts sessions, gym classes or accordion evenings (which the residents of the house attend mostly out of pity towards the employees).

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.

RIGHTS SOLD: 
FINLAND, Teos (Original publisher)
CZECH REPUBLIC, Albatros Media
DENMARK, Jensen & Dalgaard
ESTONIA, Varrak
GERMANY, Kiepenheuer & Witsch
GREECE, Enalios
FRANCE, Calmann-Lévy
ITALY, Marsilio
SLOVAKIA, Albatros Media
SPAIN, Penguin Random House
SWEDEN, Norstedts
WORLD ENGLISH, Pan Macmillan

Reading materials:
English sample (read an extract here)