Loukko by 
Original title: Marius
Author: Sirpa Kähkönen
Published: 2026
Publisher: Siltala
Genre: Literary Fiction
Pages: 250
Reading material:
English sample and full English draft translation, English synopsis, Finnish edition
The world of the novel expands beyond the limits of a single day into a story about art, Europe, and profound grief alongside the burning force of love and desire.
✓ A one-day novel of desire, absence, and waiting
✓ For the readers of Annie Ernaux, Deborah Levy and Rachel Cusk
✓ The newest novel from the Finlandia Prize winning author!
Lili spends a sultry August day in her garden pavilion on the pastures of an old manor, in an ancient stream valley through which a tramline runs. She is waiting for Marius, an admired young Frenchman, to arrive as her guest one last time.
During the day, Lili’s dear friend Paul visits the pavilion, and Lili reminisces about their time together in European cities and their heated romance in Paris. She reflects on her erotic history, on a woman painter she admired who painted glowing images of men, and on death.
Evening falls. Marius does not come.
“Yes, for one more day
one could endure, could bear
the waiting, the joy, this
quiet humming.”
When I saw that Sirpa Kähkönen had written a new novel, I was thrilled. She is such an extraordinary author, with a voice and an outlook on life unlike anyone else’s. ‘Marius’ is no exception. It’s a poetic story that engages all senses at once. You can taste the story, smell the story. The chapter where Lili is in Paris with Peter Quince is the truest and most beautiful description of passion that I’ve ever read.
Pia Printz, Publisher at Lind & Co
Download reading materials
Rights sold:
FINLAND: Siltala (orig.)
GERMANY: Blessing Verlag
SWEDEN: Lind & Co
