The Long Open

A novel about a man who loved. The Long Open is a profoundly beautiful novel about overcoming uncertainty and the power of love.

“I remember you by heart—every place you took, every posture you held. I remember how you stood the first time we kissed. I remember what you were wearing when you moved here with me to this small village in the wilderness. The look on your face when you told me you were expecting our first child, and then our second. Every moment of your presence is stored in my mind like a photograph that never fades.”

Johannes Löytövaara is the father of four children and a well‑liked photographer in the village of Selkie. Under the watchful eye of his mother Lahja, he runs a photography studio and tries to build a shared life with his wife, Kaarina. Every now and then, Johannes is caught by a longing for his father, who knew how to whistle the birds’ calls and taught him to sit patiently and quietly in place.

Now Johannes is hanging on to life only by thin threads as he decides to retell his entire story to the one who mattered most – the one he once lost.

Tommi Kinnunen writes with luminous clarity about the life of a sensitive and perceptive observer. The work is an independent sequel to the novels Where Four Roads Meet and The Light Behind the Eyes.

Tommi Kinnunen, a four‑time nominee for the Finlandia Prize, is a skillful portrayer of people and one of Finland’s most widely read authors. His previous novels – Where Four Roads Meet, Light Behind the Eyes, The Glass River, Defiance, Dark Moons, and Pine Bark– have been both critical and commercial successes. Kinnunen’s books have been translated into more than 20 languages.