The international fantasy bestseller (published in the U.S as Troll) and winner of the Finlandia Prize. Mikael, a young gay photographer, finds in the courtyard of his apartment block a small, man-like creature. It is a young troll, familiar from Scandinavian mythology: a demonic, wild beast. And it is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen. Supposedly extinct, today it is regarded as a hairy, cuddly toy by Nordic children. Mikael gives the troll a name, Pessi, and takes him home and hides him.
The first thing Mikael does is research everything he can about trolls from the internet, from folklore, nature journals and newspaper cuttings.What Mikael does not discover is that trolls exude pheromones that smell like a Calvin Klein aftershave and that this has a profound aphrodisiac effect on all those around him. Shooting an assignment for an ultra-hip brand of jeans, Mikael finds himself fast-tracked into a dangerous liaison with Martes, the sexually ambivalent art director of the advertising agency concerned, while a couple of his friends in turn fall in love with him because he carries the troll’s scent. What Mikael fails above all to learn, with tragic consequences, is that Pessi the troll is the interpreter of man’s darkest, most forbidden impulses.
Rights sold:
Albania, Dituria
Brazil, Devir
Bulgaria, Perseus
Czech Republic, One Woman Press
Denmark, Jensen & Dalgaard
France, Actes Sud
Germany, Tropen (Klett-Cotta)
Japan, Sunmark*
Latvia, Atena
Lithuania, Vaga
Poland, Terytoria*
Russia, Amphora*
Slovenia, Modrijan*
Spain, Polledro*
Sweden, Wahlström&Widstrand
UK, Peter Owen
USA, Grove Atlantic
*Rights reverted
Reading materials:
Finnish edition
English edition
French edition