The Logbook of Love

What’s love all about? In Elina Hirvonen´s new novel The Logbook of Love conversations about love form a sea of connections among people from wildly different backgrounds and places.

What’s love all about?

When Elina Hirvonen’s literary debut When I Forgot (Tin House/Portobello Books) was published in English, it made the cover of the New York Times Book Review in 2009 – extremely rare for a first novel in translation. Fast forward to 2023, and the award-winning author and filmmaker’s novel The Logbook of Love was published in Finnish to rave reviews.

The first in a trilogy, The Logbook of Love takes readers on a compelling journey into the restorative powers of love from Finland to Zambia, Iraq, Afghanistan and points further afield.

In Helsinki, a city silenced by the global pandemic, the narrator tries to ward off the darkness as she walks through the empty streets by gathering people’s stories of love. Searching for meaning, hope and joy, she meets with friends and strangers, moves between the past and present, shifts from country to country. Everywhere she goes, she talks with others about love: romantic love, the love for justice and human rights, marital love, parental love, the love that can bind friends from different cultures and backgrounds – and the love that, no matter how powerful it is, sometimes fails to bridge the gaps between people.

“That fall I began to fear my growing sense of depression would take away my ability to find meaning and I would no longer be able to write. For if I lose written words, what will I be left with? As I search for something that feels important, the word ‘love’ comes to mind. Could I ward off my dark thoughts by writing about love in all of its forms? What are all the things that love could be in this world? As darkness falls, I search for light by opening the file I’ve saved as ‘The Logbook of Love.’”

The trilogy will continue in 2026 with book #2, The Logbook of Beauty, and book #3, The Logbook of Space to follow in 2028.

In The Logbook of Beauty, the present days when the greatest number of children since World War II live amidst violent conflicts bring the narrator’s own memories of childhood and adolescence violence back to her mind.

The last part, The Logbook of Space, will deal with how time passes for humans and the world.

"This struggle between love’s sadness and ecstasy, between love’s brightness and shadows, is felt in every chapter of the book. Hirvonen writes about people beautifully and touchingly, greatly appreciating each and every one. The narrative is documentary-like, but it is beautified by a sense of relevance, warmth and presence. Despite the grim, heavy world it depicts, The Logbook of Love is joyful and light."

– Outi Hytönen,  Suomen kuvalehti magazine