Introducing THE LOGBOOK OF LOVE – a novel about the universal power of love!

We are very happy to report that we have a new addition on our fiction hotlist! Just in time for London book fair, we have added THE LOGBOOK OF LOVE by award-winning author Elina Hirvonen to our spring 2023 catalogue. This novel about the universal power of love – perfect for fans of Rachel Cusk – will be published in Finland by Wsoy in August 2023.

What’s love all about? In The Logbook of Love, conversations about love form a sea of connections among people from wildly different backgrounds and places. A world where everyone continues to search for meaning, hope and joy. This touching novel has already received high praise pre-publication:

“From one of Finland’s most talented writers comes a beautiful, compelling and evocative novel about the universal power of love in its many diverse forms and voices, taking readers from Finland to Iraq, Malawi, Morocco, Spain, Zambia and points further afield.”

Katja Pantzar, author of The Finnish Way, TarcherPerigee, Penguin Random House

“An exquisite meditation on human fragility, connection, and our yearning to find love, even in a world on fire. Hirvonen weaves together impossibly disparate, intimate stories of her friends strewn across the globe, and reveals commonality in the most diverse of circumstances, from Finland to Syria to Afghanistan to Iraq to Zambia. These stories are told with such compassion and love that despite the bitter struggles, the reader is left with a sense of hope. In a time of global division, this book is an essential reminder of all that unites us.”
Anu Partanen, author of The Nordic Theory of Everything, HarperCollins

Join the conversation about love!

Download THE LOGBOOK OF LOVE here. 

Rakkauksien lokikirja /
The Logbook of Love
Wsoy, August 2023, 250pp

Reading material: English sample
Finnish ms. in May/June 2023

About author


Elina Hirvonen

Elina Hirvonen is an award-winning author of adults’ and children’s prose, a journalist and documentary filmmaker. She has written four highly acclaimed adults’ novels that are at the same time tragic and beautiful. She is also known for her picture book series Princess Rascal, and a middle-grade trilogy Julia & P.A.L. Her books have been translated to 15 languages.

Her new novel, The Logbook of Love, is published in Finland in August 2023. Hirvonen has received the Kalevi Jäntti Prize and the Nuori Aleksis Prize, and has been nominated for Finlandia Prize and Debut Prize.

Bibliography


2023, Literary Fiction

The Logbook of Love

Elina Hirvonen


2023, Chapter Books (3-6 Years)

The Rescuers Julia and Charlie

Elina Hirvonen


2021, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Charlie and the Wombat Warriors

Elina Hirvonen


2021, Chapter Books (3-6 Years)

Princess Rascal and the Quarrel Spell

Elina Hirvonen


2020, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Julia & P.A.L

Elina Hirvonen


2019, Chapter Books (3-6 Years)

Princess Rascal and The Potty Words

Elina Hirvonen


2019, Literary Fiction

Red Storm

Elina Hirvonen


2017, Chapter Books (3-6 Years)

Princess Rascal

Elina Hirvonen


2015, Literary Fiction

When Time Runs Out

Elina Hirvonen

INHERITED LAND by Maria Turtschaninoff sold to Bulgaria! Now 20 territories!

We are thrilled to announce that the Bulgarian rights for INHERITED LAND (Arvejord) by internationally bestselling and award-winning author Maria Turtschaninoff have been acquired by Izida! The deal was closed by Sten-Erik Tammemäe at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

Izida is a Bulgarian publishing house whose list features classics, crime and thriller novels, popular science and children’s literature. Izida is also the Bulgarian publisher of Maria Turtschaninoff’s YA trilogy RED ABBEY CHRONICLES. Their authors include Jørgen Brekke, Don Juan Manuel, Torkil Damhaug, Jan Balabán, Lena Frölander-Ulf, Maria Parr, etc.

The international success story of INHERITED LAND continues, as the rights for the title have now been sold to 20 territories!

If you want to join the rapidly growing international publishing family for INHERITED LAND, we recommend you read quickly and get in touch with us! Rights are still available in Greece, Spain, Japan, China, Portugal, Latvia, Iceland, Slovakia, Lithuania, Turkey…

Download materials for INHERITED LAND here!

Inherited Land

Maria Turtschaninoff

Inherited Land is an episodic work of literary fiction depicting human relationships with nature across generations, following in the tradition of family sagas like One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez.

The roots of man and forest are intertwined in the depths of the earth.

  • Winner of the Svenska YLE Literature Prize!

Inherited Land tells multiple enchanting stories about short human lives on a small farmstead in the north of Finland with its golden cloudberries and the mythical woodland animals. The hub of the narrative is a marsh close to the farmstead, and nature is the constant while humans are like dragonflies: here one day, gone the next. Across four centuries, the people face wars, epidemics, and heartbreaks, but from the woods they find shelter and a place to be themselves.

Inherited Land is a novel about the climate crisis without ever mentioning it by name. Instead, the novel explores what people have thought about their environment, how they have used it and why. The novel is a reminder of where we have come from, and what a relationship between humans and nature could look like in the future.

The book is beautiful like a piece of jewelry and rich like a forest.
– Freja Rudels, Åbo Underrättelser newspaper

INHERITED LAND
ARVEJORD
Förlaget, 2022, 371 pp.

READING MATERIALS
Swedish edition
English sample and synopsis

RIGHTS SOLD:
FINLAND: Förlaget (orig. Finland-Swedish)
FINLAND: Tammi (Finnish)
AZERBAIJAN: Alatoran
BULGARIA: Izida
CROATIA: HENA COM
CZECH REPUBLIC: ARGO
DENMARK: Alpha Forlag
ESTONIA: Rahva Raamat
FRANCE: Éditions Paulsen
GERMANY: Rowohlt
HUNGARY: L’Harmattan
ISRAEL: Hakibbutz Hameuchad – Sifriat Poalim
ITALY: Bompiani
NETHERLANDS: Atlas Contact
NORWAY: Bonnier Norsk Forlag
POLAND: Poznańskie
ROMANIA: Editura Univers
SWEDEN: Förlaget
UNITED KINGDOM & COMMONWEALTH: Pushkin Press
UNITED STATES & CANADA: Pushkin Press
WORLD ALBANIAN: Shkupi Publishing House

About author


Maria Turtschaninoff

Maria Turtschaninoff is known for crafting lyrical, historically inspired fantasy stories starring strong female protagonists. In addition to J.R.R. Tolkien, she counts Philip Pullman, Ursula K. Le Guin and C.S. Lewis among her favorite authors. She is a two-time winner of the Society of Swedish Literature Prize, a nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and winner of the 2014 Finlandia Junior Prize. Her Red Abbey Chronicles YA trilogy has been sold into 30 languages. Maria has a Master of Arts in human ecology and works full-time as a writer.

INHERITED LAND, Maria Turtschaninoff's first adult fiction novel, has been awarded the prestigious Swedish YLE Literature Prize 2022! This award is annually given to the best Finnish-Swedish book of the year during Helsinki Book Fair and is regarded as one of the most important award for Finnish-Swedish authors.

Bibliography


2022, Literary Fiction

Inherited Land

Maria Turtschaninoff


2018, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi: Red Mantle

Maria Turtschaninoff


2016, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Naondel

Maria Turtschaninoff


2014, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi

Maria Turtschaninoff

Introducing Ahlback Agency FICTION Spring 2023 Rights Guide!

We are thrilled to present our Fiction Catalogue for Spring 2023!

Our Crime List is expanding with a new exciting author Erika Vik combining Nordic Noir and goth rock and fresh additions to three crime thriller series. International TV series based on Maria Kallio crime series brings Finland’s bestselling crime writer Leena Lehtolainen’s latest title in the spotlight. Meanwhile, the 3rd title in the Silk Sisters series will arrive to grace our Historical Fiction list.

From our new catalogue, we’ve picked some outstanding titles for you – take a look at them below!

View the Spring 2023 Catalogue here!

Forever With You

Erika Vik

Nordic Noir meets Goth rock in this dark psychological thriller.

Janne Kallamaa is a struggling musician at the lowest point of his popularity, a major Finnish rock star of the 90s who is rejected by his record company. Soon after, the CEO of said company is found dead. Is it suicide or murder?

Meanwhile, Janne is tormented by a faceless stalker whose threatening messages hide more than meets the eye. It’s as if the stalker knows everything about the former star’s life, even his darkest secrets.

This sinister debut thriller asks what we are willing to sacrifice for art.

A Crossing in the Darkness

Leena Lehtolainen

The newest, standalone crime novel in the ever-popular Maria Kallio series! German and Finnish publication in Fall 2023!

International TV series sold in 10 territories!

The City of Espoo is being menaced by the “Biris” gang that steals designer clothing, phones, and jewelry from other youth. One night, one of the members is stabbed to death, in a case which seems clear. Maria’s unit is investigating while being threatened by a cut in funding.

Maria’s home feels empty as her children have left the nest. An acquaintance contacts Maria regarding sexual harassment, and Maria tries to help – but her intervention seems to make things worse. And as a boy goes missing from a children’s home and Biris threatens with revenge, Maria has her hands full.

Mariam

Sara Medberg

Silk Sisters #3

The third installment of the internationally bestselling Silk Sisters series, a stunning romantic, feel-good adventure! Bridgerton meets Jane Austen’s Emma with Nordic heroines!

Mariam, the daughter of a highborn Persian lady and a Swedish tradesman, gets swept away in a breath-taking romantic adventure after she moves to Porvoo in the midst of Finnish War and becomes the talk of the whole city.

When her brother is arrested in Sweden, Mariam doesn’t hesitate in running to his aid. She’s read Jane Austen’s new novel Emma, whose independent heroine encourages Mariam to act. A mysterious baron promises to help her, but can she trust him? And why do his silvery eyes remind Mariam of something?

The Silk Sisters series has dazzled readers in Finland and abroad. Don a silk dress and let the story sweep you away!

Land of Serpents

Eeva Louko

Ronja Vaara #2

The second title in the Ronja Vaara crime series from the rising star of Finnish crime literature takes the reader to the shadows of a pulsing summer night.

A late spring heat wave caresses the people of Lauttasaari, and Ronja Vaara is pleasantly busy with her new job at the local newspaper. When the body of a young woman is found on Käärmesaari (Serpent Island) near Helsinki, Ronja’s new boss senses an opportunity to make the newspaper the prime source for any information on the case. Reluctantly, Ronja contacts the chief investigator Anton Koivu, who is surprisingly willing to leak confidential information to Ronja – if she does him a favor in return.

Soon, another death shocks the people of Lauttasaari. Koivu and his team pick up the pace to solve the cases, but a surprising guest from the past throws them off balance.

The Mystery of the Wrestling Woman

Laura Andersson

Lili Flame Investigates #2

Unlikely investigator Lili Flame who’s charmed readers faces a new tricky puzzle!

In early 1947, Helsinki gets to see something exciting when an unusual troupe of female wrestlers from America performs in the city.

Lili and Riku Loimola, together with their friends, enjoy the performance, but, after the show, chaos erupts in the area. One of the star performers has been shot – and struck with a knife. Why two methods of killing? Could there be two murderers, too?

The Helsinki police are not particularly interested in investigating the foreign woman’s murder, but Lili and Riku won’t give up – the victim deserves justice. A terrific journey begins into the colorful and circus-filled past of Joy Johnson!


INHERITED LAND by Maria Turtschaninoff sold to Hungary! Now 19 territories!

We are thrilled to announce that the Hungarian rights for INHERITED LAND (Arvejord) by internationally bestselling and award-winning author Maria Turtschaninoff have been acquired by L’Harmattan Publishing House! The deal was closed by Sten-Erik Tammemäe at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

L’Harmattan Publishing House, established in 1999 and part of the French Groupe L’Harmattan, is a publishing house with a mission to encourage reader immersion. Their titles range from the latest gems of world literature to scientific progressivity. Not only is L’Harmattan the leading science publisher in Hungary, but it also features two series of literary fiction titles from authors all over the world. Their authors include Dag Solstad, Olga Tokarczuk, Jean Rouad, Muriel Spark, Kjell Westö, Miguel de Unamuno, W. B. Yeats, etc.

The international success story of INHERITED LAND continues, as the rights for the title have now been sold to 19 territories!

If you want to join the rapidly growing international publishing family for INHERITED LAND, we recommend you read quickly and get in touch with us! Rights are still available in Greece, Spain, Japan, China, Portugal, Latvia, Iceland, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Lithuania, Turkey…

Download the materials for INHERITED LAND here!

Inherited Land

Maria Turtschaninoff

The roots of man and forest are intertwined in the depths of the earth.

Inherited Land tells multiple enchanting stories about short human lives on a small farmstead in the north of Finland with its golden cloudberries and the mythical woodland animals. The hub of the narrative is a marsh close to the farmstead, and nature is the constant while humans are like dragonflies: here one day, gone the next. Across four centuries, the people face wars, epidemics, and heartbreaks, but from the woods they find shelter and a place to be themselves.

Inherited Land is a novel about the climate crisis without ever mentioning it by name. Instead, the novel explores what people have thought about their environment, how they have used it and why. The novel is a reminder of where we have come from, and what a relationship between humans and nature could look like in the future.

INHERITED LAND
ARVEJORD
Förlaget, 2022, 371 pp.

READING MATERIALS
Swedish edition
English sample and synopsis

RIGHTS SOLD:
FINLAND: Förlaget (orig. Finland-Swedish)
FINLAND: Tammi (Finnish)
AZERBAIJAN: Alatoran
CROATIA: HENA COM
CZECH REPUBLIC: ARGO
DENMARK: Alpha Forlag
ESTONIA: Rahva Raamat
FRANCE: Éditions Paulsen
GERMANY: Rowohlt
HUNGARY: L’Harmattan
ISRAEL: Hakibbutz Hameuchad – Sifriat Poalim
ITALY: Bompiani
NETHERLANDS: Atlas Contact
NORWAY: Bonnier Norsk Forlag
POLAND: Poznańskie
ROMANIA: Editura Univers
SWEDEN: Förlaget
WORLD ALBANIAN: Shkupi Publishing House
WORLD ENGLISH: Pushkin Press

About author


Maria Turtschaninoff

Maria Turtschaninoff is known for crafting lyrical, historically inspired fantasy stories starring strong female protagonists. In addition to J.R.R. Tolkien, she counts Philip Pullman, Ursula K. Le Guin and C.S. Lewis among her favorite authors. She is a two-time winner of the Society of Swedish Literature Prize, a nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and winner of the 2014 Finlandia Junior Prize. Her Red Abbey Chronicles YA trilogy has been sold into 30 languages. Maria has a Master of Arts in human ecology and works full-time as a writer.

INHERITED LAND, Maria Turtschaninoff's first adult fiction novel, has been awarded the prestigious Swedish YLE Literature Prize 2022! This award is annually given to the best Finnish-Swedish book of the year during Helsinki Book Fair and is regarded as one of the most important award for Finnish-Swedish authors.

Bibliography


2022, Literary Fiction

Inherited Land

Maria Turtschaninoff


2018, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi: Red Mantle

Maria Turtschaninoff


2016, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Naondel

Maria Turtschaninoff


2014, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi

Maria Turtschaninoff

INHERITED LAND by Maria Turtschaninoff sold to Estonia! Now 18 territories!

We are thrilled to announce that the Estonian rights for INHERITED LAND (Arvejord) by internationally bestselling and award-winning author Maria Turtschaninoff have been acquired by Rahva Raamat! The deal was closed by Sten-Erik Tammemäe at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

Rahva Raamat is the biggest bookstore chain in Estonia and their bookstore in Viru Keskus shopping centre in Tallinn was chosen by the 2022 London Book Fair International Excellence Awards as the best bookstore in the world. The mission of Rahva Raamat publishing house is to provide readers with a diverse range of books that would enrichen their worldview and heighten their joy of reading. They have published works from authors such as Delia Owens, Aldous Huxley, Bernardine Evaristo, Richard Osman, Chris Whitaker, Jojo Moyes, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, etc.

INHERITED LAND continues to conquer the world – the rights for the title have now been sold to 18 territories!

If you want to join the rapidly growing international publishing family for INHERITED LAND, we recommend you read quickly and get in touch with us! Rights are still available in Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Japan, China, Iceland, Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Greece, Turkey…

Download materials for INHERITED LAND here!

Inherited Land

Maria Turtschaninoff

The roots of man and forest are intertwined in the depths of the earth.

Inherited Land tells multiple enchanting stories about short human lives on a small farmstead in the north of Finland with its golden cloudberries and the mythical woodland animals. The hub of the narrative is a marsh close to the farmstead, and nature is the constant while humans are like dragonflies: here one day, gone the next. Across four centuries, the people face wars, epidemics, and heartbreaks, but from the woods they find shelter and a place to be themselves.

Inherited Land is a novel about the climate crisis without ever mentioning it by name. Instead, the novel explores what people have thought about their environment, how they have used it and why. The novel is a reminder of where we have come from, and what a relationship between humans and nature could look like in the future.

INHERITED LAND
ARVEJORD
Förlaget, 2022, 371 pp.

READING MATERIALS
Swedish edition
English sample and synopsis

RIGHTS SOLD:
FINLAND: Förlaget (orig. Finland-Swedish)
FINLAND: Tammi (Finnish)
AZERBAIJAN: Alatoran
CROATIA: HENA COM
CZECH REPUBLIC: ARGO
DENMARK: Alpha Forlag
ESTONIA: Rahva Raamat
FRANCE: Éditions Paulsen
GERMANY: Rowohlt
ISRAEL: Hakibbutz Hameuchad – Sifriat Poalim
ITALY: Bompiani
NETHERLANDS: Atlas Contact
NORWAY: Bonnier Norsk Forlag
POLAND: Poznańskie
ROMANIA: Editura Univers
SWEDEN: Förlaget
WORLD ALBANIAN: Shkupi Publishing House
WORLD ENGLISH: Pushkin Press

About author


Maria Turtschaninoff

Maria Turtschaninoff is known for crafting lyrical, historically inspired fantasy stories starring strong female protagonists. In addition to J.R.R. Tolkien, she counts Philip Pullman, Ursula K. Le Guin and C.S. Lewis among her favorite authors. She is a two-time winner of the Society of Swedish Literature Prize, a nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and winner of the 2014 Finlandia Junior Prize. Her Red Abbey Chronicles YA trilogy has been sold into 30 languages. Maria has a Master of Arts in human ecology and works full-time as a writer.

INHERITED LAND, Maria Turtschaninoff's first adult fiction novel, has been awarded the prestigious Swedish YLE Literature Prize 2022! This award is annually given to the best Finnish-Swedish book of the year during Helsinki Book Fair and is regarded as one of the most important award for Finnish-Swedish authors.

Bibliography


2022, Literary Fiction

Inherited Land

Maria Turtschaninoff


2018, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi: Red Mantle

Maria Turtschaninoff


2016, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Naondel

Maria Turtschaninoff


2014, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi

Maria Turtschaninoff

THE NIGHT OF ANCIENT LIGHTS by Hanna Meretoja sold in a pre-empt to Germany!

We are thrilled to announce that the German rights for Hanna Meretoja‘s impressive debut novel THE NIGHT OF ANCIENT LIGHTS have been acquired in a pre-empt by German publisher mareverlag! The deal was closed by Anna Kappauf at Elina Ahlbäck Literary Agency.

mareverlag is one of the most important independent literary publishers in the German-speaking world and its publications focus on the sea – as a habitat, as an economic and cultural space, making it the perfect publisher for the setting of Hanna Meretoja’s novel. But it wasn’t just the setting that convinced the publisher of the book:

We were fascinated by how clever and nuanced the author handled the topic of dealing with a potentially deadly disease. It is rare to find books that talk both so openly and with lots of sensitivity about this topic, but also about the other topics that are subjects of this novel (like birth trauma and involuntary childlessness). The beautiful setting, the skillful set-up of the characters’ relations and psychology, and the aptly chosen literary references make this novel a very enjoyable read, even though it talks about not so easy topics”.
 Judith Weber, Editorial Director at mareverlag

THE NIGHT OF ANCIENT LIGHTS is a very atmospheric, intimate novel that fits well in any upmarket and literary list and would also work great for bookclubs. If you would like to add this outstanding title to your list, don’t hesitate to contact us!

Download the materials for THE NIGHT OF ANCIENT LIGHTS here!

The Night of Ancient Lights

Hanna Meretoja

Close friends come together on the night of Ancient Lights to watch the chain of bonfires blaze across the archipelago and talk through their pasts and futures as the proximity of death ignites an intense passion for life.

Elea has just heard that she is seriously ill and wants to share with friends the sense of urgency that shakes her to her core. The push-and-pull of hope and despair permeates the narration that flows in the rhythm of the sea, in dialogue with Virginia Woolf’s Waves and Tove Jansson’s Summer Book. It captures the soul of the Finnish archipelago – the world’s largest island labyrinth.

Intellectual force is braided with subtle drama as personal emergency is woven into the fabric of global crises: the pandemic and climate change. Time is disrupted, but illuminated moments gleam in the dark. This intellectually fierce and passionate one-evening novel threads philosophical reflections into deeply intimate perceptions in a way that readers of Rachel Cusk and Maggie Nelson will recognize.

The novel has received glowing reviews – it has been praised for its lyrical language, wisdom and boldness, complex philosophical reflection on illness, precise narration, and passion for life, love and nature.

THE NIGHT OF ANCIENT LIGHTS
ELOTULET
WSOY, 2022, 462 pp.

READING MATERIALS
Finnish edition
English sample and synopsis

RIGHTS SOLD:
FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)
GERMANY: mareverlag

About author


Hanna Meretoja

Hanna Meretoja is an internationally renowned literary scholar, a professor of comparative literature, and narrative theorist whose work has been published by prestigious academic publishers. Her monographs include The Ethics of Storytelling: Narrative Hermeneutics, History, and the Possible (2018, Oxford University Press). Her work is mainly in the fields of narrative studies, cultural memory studies, and trauma studies. As a novelist, Meretoja has a unique lyrical voice that seamlessly threads cultural theory and philosophy into a poetic, ruptured narrative with an acute sense of lived experience.

Bibliography


2022, Literary Fiction

The Night of Ancient Lights

Hanna Meretoja

Helsingin Sanomat recommends INHERITED LAND as one of the best books of the year 2022!

Helsingin Sanomat recommends INHERITED LAND as one of the best books of the year 2022!

Finland’s biggest daily Helsingin Sanomat and editor Arla Kanerva recommends INHERITED LAND: 

“A great novel follows the construction of a relationship with nature” and she adds: “Swamp, hoe and – the spirit of the forest. Maria Turtschaninoff’s first adult novel INHERITED LAND is definitely at the top of my “best book of the year” -list. The story, set in Ostrobothnia, follows one house and estate that is being built and then slowly collapses from the 17th century all the way to the 21st century. With its people, but also other living beings.”
The Helsingin Sanomat article and review highlight also the huge international success for INHERITED LAND – now sold in 17 languages and counting. Would you like to join this international success story? Please let us know your interest as soon as possible!

The article explains well this exceptional title: “The original name of the novel, Arvejord, INHERITED LAND, seemingly focuses the attention on the way the estate in the middle of the forest is passed on generation after generation, but inheritance has many meanings. The connections are not only between humans, but also with animals, plants, forest and its spirits – the land itself.
As a result of the climate crisis, the connection between humans and other living creatures is a constant topic of attention. Turtschaninoff builds a multilayered and kind image around the thought, one where everything is connected, death is part of life. And every now and then, someone makes a contract at the edge of the marsh.”

Download the materials for INHERITED LAND here!

Inherited Land

Maria Turtschaninoff

The roots of man and forest are intertwined in the depths of the earth.

Inherited Land tells multiple enchanting stories about short human lives on a small farmstead in the north of Finland with its golden cloudberries and the mythical woodland animals. The hub of the narrative is a marsh close to the farmstead, and nature is the constant while humans are like dragonflies: here one day, gone the next. Across four centuries, the people face wars, epidemics, and heartbreaks, but from the woods they find shelter and a place to be themselves

Inherited Land is a novel about the climate crisis without ever mentioning it by name. Instead, the novel explores what people have thought about their environment, how they have used it and why. The novel is a reminder of where we have come from, and what a relationship between humans and nature could look like in the future.

 

Arvejord
Förlaget, August 2022, 371 pp.

Rights sold: FINLAND: Förlaget (orig. Finland-Swedish), FINLAND: Tammi (Finnish), AZERBAIJAN: Alatoran, CROATIA: HENA COM, CZECH REPUBLIC: ARGO, DENMARK: Alpha Forlag, FRANCE: Éditions Paulsen, GERMANY: Rowohlt, ISRAEL: Hakibbutz Hameuchad – Sifriat Poalim, ITALY: Bompiani, NETHERLANDS: Atlas Contact,  NORWAY: Bonnier Norsk Forlag, POLAND: Poznańskie, ROMANIA: Editura Univers, SWEDEN: Förlaget, WORLD ALBANIAN: Shkupi Publishing House, WORLD ENGLISH: Pushkin Press
Reading materials: Swedish edition, English sample and synopsis

About author


Maria Turtschaninoff

Maria Turtschaninoff is known for crafting lyrical, historically inspired fantasy stories starring strong female protagonists. In addition to J.R.R. Tolkien, she counts Philip Pullman, Ursula K. Le Guin and C.S. Lewis among her favorite authors. She is a two-time winner of the Society of Swedish Literature Prize, a nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and winner of the 2014 Finlandia Junior Prize. Her Red Abbey Chronicles YA trilogy has been sold into 30 languages. Maria has a Master of Arts in human ecology and works full-time as a writer.

INHERITED LAND, Maria Turtschaninoff's first adult fiction novel, has been awarded the prestigious Swedish YLE Literature Prize 2022! This award is annually given to the best Finnish-Swedish book of the year during Helsinki Book Fair and is regarded as one of the most important award for Finnish-Swedish authors.

Bibliography


2022, Literary Fiction

Inherited Land

Maria Turtschaninoff


2018, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi: Red Mantle

Maria Turtschaninoff


2016, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Naondel

Maria Turtschaninoff


2014, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi

Maria Turtschaninoff

INHERITED LAND by Maria Turtschaninoff sold to Croatia! Now 16 territories!

We are thrilled to announce that the Croatian rights for INHERITED LAND (Arvejord) by internationally bestselling and award-winning author Maria Turtschaninoff have been pre-empted by HENA COM! The deal was closed by Sten-Erik Tammemäe at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

HENA COM is a Croatian publishing house who have published a large number of prominent Croatian and international authors. Their authors include Elif Shafak, Nikos Kazantzakis, Claire Keegan, Umberto Eco, Lorenzo Amurri, Ocean Vuong, Amos Oz, etc.

INHERITED LAND is an epic family saga, spanning centuries and generations, in the spirit of titles such as One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. Through the lives of people inhabiting the Nevabacka farmstead, the novel explores how successive generations have seen their connection with nature and also reveals the history of Finland as a nation.

INHERITED LAND continues its worldwide success with the rights for the title now sold to 16 territories!

If you want to join the rapidly growing international publishing family for INHERITED LAND, we recommend you read quickly and get in touch with us! Rights are still available in Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Japan, China, Iceland, Hungary, Slovakia, Estonia, Lithuania, Israel, Greece, Turkey…

Download the reading materials for INHERITED LAND here!

Inherited Land

Maria Turtschaninoff

The roots of man and forest are intertwined in the depths of the earth.

Inherited Land tells multiple enchanting stories about short human lives on a small farmstead in the north of Finland with its golden cloudberries and the mythical woodland animals. The hub of the narrative is a marsh close to the farmstead, and nature is the constant while humans are like dragonflies: here one day, gone the next. Across four centuries, the people face wars, epidemics, and heartbreaks, but from the woods they find shelter and a place to be themselves.

Inherited Land is a novel about the climate crisis without ever mentioning it by name. Instead, the novel explores what people have thought about their environment, how they have used it and why. The novel is a reminder of where we have come from, and what a relationship between humans and nature could look like in the future.

INHERITED LAND
ARVEJORD
Förlaget, 2022, 371 pp.

READING MATERIALS
Swedish edition
English sample and synopsis

RIGHTS SOLD:
FINLAND: Förlaget (orig. Finland-Swedish)
FINLAND: Tammi (Finnish)
AZERBAIJAN: Alatoran
CROATIA: HENA COM
CZECH REPUBLIC: ARGO
DENMARK: Alpha Forlag
FRANCE: Éditions Paulsen
GERMANY: Rowohlt
ITALY: Bompiani
NETHERLANDS: Atlas Contact
NORWAY: Bonnier Norsk Forlag
POLAND: Poznańskie
ROMANIA: Editura Univers
SWEDEN: Förlaget
WORLD ALBANIAN: Shkupi Publishing House
WORLD ENGLISH: Pushkin Press

About author


Maria Turtschaninoff

Maria Turtschaninoff is known for crafting lyrical, historically inspired fantasy stories starring strong female protagonists. In addition to J.R.R. Tolkien, she counts Philip Pullman, Ursula K. Le Guin and C.S. Lewis among her favorite authors. She is a two-time winner of the Society of Swedish Literature Prize, a nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and winner of the 2014 Finlandia Junior Prize. Her Red Abbey Chronicles YA trilogy has been sold into 30 languages. Maria has a Master of Arts in human ecology and works full-time as a writer.

INHERITED LAND, Maria Turtschaninoff's first adult fiction novel, has been awarded the prestigious Swedish YLE Literature Prize 2022! This award is annually given to the best Finnish-Swedish book of the year during Helsinki Book Fair and is regarded as one of the most important award for Finnish-Swedish authors.

Bibliography


2022, Literary Fiction

Inherited Land

Maria Turtschaninoff


2018, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi: Red Mantle

Maria Turtschaninoff


2016, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Naondel

Maria Turtschaninoff


2014, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi

Maria Turtschaninoff

INHERITED LAND by Maria Turtschaninoff sold to the Czech Republic! Now 14 territories!

We are thrilled to announce that the Czech rights for INHERITED LAND (Arvejord) by internationally bestselling and award-winning author Maria Turtschaninoff have been acquired in auction by ARGO! The deal was closed by Sten-Erik Tammemäe at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

ARGO is one of the major publishing houses in the Czech Republic, and their authors include Margaret Atwood, Philip Pullman, Hilary Mantel, Tana French, Robert Fulghum, Orhan Pamuk, etc.

Maria Turtschaninoff’s INHERITED LAND is utterly charming. It is an age-old story told in a brilliant, contemporary voice. Or rather voices, one more compelling and original than the other.“
– Hana Zahradníková, editor, ARGO, Czechia

INHERITED LAND is an epic family saga, spanning centuries and generations, in the spirit of titles such as One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. Through the lives of people inhabiting the Nevabacka farmstead, the novel explores how successive generations have seen their connection with nature and also reveals the history of Finland as a nation.

INHERITED LAND continues its wonderful success story – the rights for the title have now been sold to 14 territories and the title was recently awarded the prestigious Swedish YLE Literature Prize for the best Finland-Swedish novel of the year!

Download the materials for INHERITED LAND here!

If you want to join the rapidly growing international publishing family for INHERITED LAND, we recommend you read quickly and get in touch with us!

Inherited Land

Maria Turtschaninoff

The roots of man and forest are intertwined in the depths of the earth.

Inherited Land tells multiple enchanting stories about short human lives on a small farmstead in the north of Finland with its golden cloudberries and the mythical woodland animals. The hub of the narrative is a marsh close to the farmstead, and nature is the constant while humans are like dragonflies: here one day, gone the next. Across four centuries, the people face wars, epidemics, and heartbreaks, but from the woods they find shelter and a place to be themselves

Inherited Land is a novel about the climate crisis without ever mentioning it by name. Instead, the novel explores what people have thought about their environment, how they have used it and why. The novel is a reminder of where we have come from, and what a relationship between humans and nature could look like in the future.

INHERITED LAND
ARVEJORD
Förlaget, 2022, 371 pp.

READING MATERIALS
Swedish edition
English sample and synopsis

RIGHTS SOLD:
FINLAND: Förlaget (orig. Finland-Swedish)
FINLAND: Tammi (Finnish)
AZERBAIJAN: Alatoran
CZECH REPUBLIC: ARGO
DENMARK: Alpha Forlag
FRANCE: Éditions Paulsen
GERMANY: Rowohlt
ITALY: Bompiani
NETHERLANDS: Atlas Contact
NORWAY: Bonnier Norsk Forlag
POLAND: Poznańskie
ROMANIA: Editura Univers
SWEDEN: Förlaget
WORLD ALBANIAN: Shkupi Publishing House

About author


Maria Turtschaninoff

Maria Turtschaninoff is known for crafting lyrical, historically inspired fantasy stories starring strong female protagonists. In addition to J.R.R. Tolkien, she counts Philip Pullman, Ursula K. Le Guin and C.S. Lewis among her favorite authors. She is a two-time winner of the Society of Swedish Literature Prize, a nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and winner of the 2014 Finlandia Junior Prize. Her Red Abbey Chronicles YA trilogy has been sold into 30 languages. Maria has a Master of Arts in human ecology and works full-time as a writer.

INHERITED LAND, Maria Turtschaninoff's first adult fiction novel, has been awarded the prestigious Swedish YLE Literature Prize 2022! This award is annually given to the best Finnish-Swedish book of the year during Helsinki Book Fair and is regarded as one of the most important award for Finnish-Swedish authors.

Bibliography


2022, Literary Fiction

Inherited Land

Maria Turtschaninoff


2018, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi: Red Mantle

Maria Turtschaninoff


2016, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Naondel

Maria Turtschaninoff


2014, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi

Maria Turtschaninoff

French and Italian deals for INHERITED LAND by Maria Turtschaninoff! Now 11 territories for this title!

INHERITED LAND by Maria Turtschaninoff sold to Italy and France!

Just after the Frankfurt Book Fair, we are thrilled to announce that we have closed French and Italian deals for INHERITED LAND (Arvejord) by internationally bestselling and award-winning author Maria Turtschaninoff! 

INHERITED LAND follows in the tradition of family sagas like One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, and the ancestral history holds a mirror up to the history of Finland as a nation, shown in this novel through snapshots of each character’s life.

The Italian rights were sold in an auction to Bompiani! Founded in 1929, they have published 17 Nobel Literature Prize winners, and are also the publishers of authors such as Lauren Groff and Julia ArmfieldThe deal was closed by Elsa Lindström at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

The French rights were pre-empted by Editions Paulsen! Editions Paulsen publishing is an independent French publisher based in Paris. The company was founded in 2005 and their list is nature-focused publishing both fiction and non-fiction dedicated to nature and travel writing, explorations, adventure novels, outdoor literature and mountain books, with a focus on novels based in the NorthThe deal was closed by Mimi Matinpalo at Elina Ahlback Agency.

INHERITED LAND was our book of the fair and has now been sold to 11 territories, making it the fastest-moving fiction title in the agency history!

If you want to join the rapidly growing international publishing family for INHERITED LAND, we recommend you read quickly and get in touch with us!

Download the materials for INHERITED LAND here!

Praise from foreign publishers of INHERITED LAND:

“This novel has caught our interest from the very first submission. It would fit perfectly in our list with its beautiful plot, the relationship man/nature as a primary element, characters that remain in your mind for a long time and the magic touch, so charming for all kinds of readers.”
–Silvia Zamperini, Bompiani, Italy

Arvejord is a gem of a novel, an ambitious and exquisitely written saga in which the Nevabacka farm is a character in itself, observing from the depths of the forest the intertwined history of a land and of a family. With a magical atmosphere, bigger than life characters and incredibly evocative prose, Maria Turtschaninoff proves to be a talented storyteller and accomplishes an amazing feat by making four centuries of the history of Finland so strikingly alive. The editorial team at Paulsen is delighted to have the opportunity to share this novel with French readers as a highlight in 2023.”
– Aurélie Charron and Isabelle Parent, Editions Paulsen, France

“I am so full of admiration for this novel, such an elegant and strong prose and structure. I love how the stories intertwine, but you’re not at any point confused. And how matter of fact, but also imaginative and vivid the narrative is. One of my greatest reading experiences growing up was Väinö Linna’s trilogy — this is of course a very different book, but there is a core of the same urgency that have me totally captivated.”
– Anne Fløtaker at Bonnier Norsk Forlag, Norway

“I immediately had the feeling that this is something very special, something different from the rest, a story that stays with you for a long time. A novel with a strong concept, beautifully told and with topics many people can relate to. I love that nature plays such an important role and how it changes (and how we impose changes on it) and that you get an insight not only into so many different lives, but also into the history of so many centuries.”
– Friederike Ney, Editor, Rowohlt/Kindler, Germany

“We at the office are very impressed with what we have read in the English sample and the Swedish manuscript. We would love to publish this great family saga about a Finnish family followed through centuries, which we think in more general terms is also a strong depiction of human suffering, love, and survival with very powerful portrayals of characters and settings. Maria Turtschaninoff would be an amazing addition to our list next to Nordic authors such as Ann-Helén Laestadius and Rosa Liksom with Arvejord as an obvious book to put in position as the great historic novel in Fall 23 or Spring 24.”
–Anne Bjerre PetersenAlpha Forlag, Denmark

“I couldn’t be more firmly convinced that INHERITED LAND and Atlas Contact would form a match made in heaven. It is also the rare kind of book that prompts utter love at first sight for me personally: formally and stylistically inventive without making any concessions to storytelling; a compelling, episodically structured book that challenges the reader to connect some of the dots herself (but which also leaves little ‘Easter eggs’ hidden between the lines for the attentive reader); a book that addresses an urgent subject for our times – how we humans treat the natural world that has been entrusted to us – without being heavy-handed about it; and most importantly: a book that zooms in on real characters of flesh and blood and gets the reader invested in their fates in just a few strokes of the pen. It is an amazing achievement from a writer with a brilliant future ahead of her.”
– Jessica Nash, Publisher, Atlas Contact, Netherlands

Inherited Land

Maria Turtschaninoff

The roots of man and forest are intertwined in the depths of the earth.

Inherited Land tells multiple enchanting stories about short human lives on a small farmstead in the north of Finland with its golden cloudberries and the mythical woodland animals. The hub of the narrative is a marsh close to the farmstead, and nature is the constant while humans are like dragonflies: here one day, gone the next. Across four centuries, the people face wars, epidemics, and heartbreaks, but from the woods they find shelter and a place to be themselves

Inherited Land is a novel about the climate crisis without ever mentioning it by name. Instead, the novel explores what people have thought about their environment, how they have used it and why. The novel is a reminder of where we have come from, and what a relationship between humans and nature could look like in the future.

 

Arvejord
Förlaget, August 2022, 371 pp.

Rights sold: FINLAND: Förlaget (orig. Finland-Swedish),
FINLAND: Tammi (Finnish)
AZERBAIJAN: Alatoran
DENMARK: Alpha Forlag
FRANCE: Editions Paulsen
GERMANY: Rowohlt
ITALY: Bompiani
NETHERLANDS: Atlas Contact
NORWAY: Bonnier Norsk Forlag
ROMANIA: Editura Univers
SWEDEN: Förlaget

Reading materials: Swedish edition, English sample and synopsis

About author


Maria Turtschaninoff

Maria Turtschaninoff is known for crafting lyrical, historically inspired fantasy stories starring strong female protagonists. In addition to J.R.R. Tolkien, she counts Philip Pullman, Ursula K. Le Guin and C.S. Lewis among her favorite authors. She is a two-time winner of the Society of Swedish Literature Prize, a nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and winner of the 2014 Finlandia Junior Prize. Her Red Abbey Chronicles YA trilogy has been sold into 30 languages. Maria has a Master of Arts in human ecology and works full-time as a writer.

INHERITED LAND, Maria Turtschaninoff's first adult fiction novel, has been awarded the prestigious Swedish YLE Literature Prize 2022! This award is annually given to the best Finnish-Swedish book of the year during Helsinki Book Fair and is regarded as one of the most important award for Finnish-Swedish authors.

Bibliography


2022, Literary Fiction

Inherited Land

Maria Turtschaninoff


2018, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi: Red Mantle

Maria Turtschaninoff


2016, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Naondel

Maria Turtschaninoff


2014, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi

Maria Turtschaninoff

THE END OF SUNSET GROVE by Minna Lindgren sold to Hungary! 

We are very happy to announce that the Hungarian rights for THE END OF SUNSET GROVE, the final part of the SUNSET GROVE trilogy by Minna Lindgren, have been acquired by Kossuth! The deal was closed by Sten-Erik Tammemäe at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

The SUNSET GROVE trilogy focuses on the adventures of three retired women – Siiri, Irma, and Anna-Liisa, all older than 90 – as they investigate the strange things that occur in their retirement home, Sunset Grove. Full of humor and suspense, these titles are a real treat for the fans of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, Fredrik Backman, and Richard Osman.

The series has been an international hit with rights sold to 17 territories! 
Rights are still available in Poland, Norway, Romania, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Korea, etc.

Download the English PDFs for the entire trilogy here!

FILI translation grant application round is ongoing! FILI provides grants that can cover up to 70% of the costs of translating Finnish and Finland-Swedish titles to other languages. The deadline for the current application round is November 1st. You can find more information here: Translation and printing grants for publishers outside Finland – FILI

THE END OF SUNSET GROVE
by Minna Lindgren
Teos, November 2015, 289 pp.

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.

ESCAPE FROM SUNSET GROVE
by Minna Lindgren
Teos, November 2014, 256 pp.

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.

DEATH IN SUNSET GROVE
by Minna Lindgren
Teos, November 2013, 305 pp.

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.

THE END OF SUNSET GROVE
EHTOOLEHDON TUHO
Teos, November 2015, 289 pp.

READING MATERIALS
English edition

RIGHTS SOLD:
FINLAND: Teos (orig.)
CZECHIA: Albatros Media / XYZ
DENMARK: Jensen & Dalgaard
GERMANY: Kiepenheuer & Witsch
GREECE: Enalios
HUNGARY: Kossuth
ITALY: Marsilio
LATVIA: Petergailis
SLOVAKIA: Albatros Media Slovakia s.r.o.
SPAIN: Santillana
WORLD ENGLISH: Pan Macmillan

 

ESCAPE FROM SUNSET GROVE
EHTOOLEHDON PAKOLAISET
Teos, November 2014, 256 pp.

READING MATERIALS
English edition

RIGHTS SOLD:
FINLAND: Teos (orig.)
CZECHIA: Albatros Media / XYZ
DENMARK: Jensen & Dalgaard
FRANCE: Calmann-Lévy
GERMANY: Kiepenheuer & Witsch
GREECE: Enalios
HUNGARY: Kossuth
ITALY: Marsilio
LATVIA: Petergailis
SLOVAKIA: Albatros Media Slovakia s.r.o.
SPAIN: Santillana
SWEDEN: Norstedts
WORLD ENGLISH: Pan Macmillan

 

DEATH IN SUNSET GROVE
KUOLEMA EHTOOLEHDOSSA
Teos, November 2013, 305 pp.

READING MATERIALS
English edition

RIGHTS SOLD:
FINLAND: Teos (orig.)
ARABIC: Al Arabi
CZECHIA: Albatros Media / XYZ
DENMARK: Jensen & Dalgaard
ESTONIA: Varrak
FRANCE: Calmann-Lévy
GERMANY: Kiepenheuer & Witsch
GREECE: Enalios
HUNGARY: Kossuth
ISRAEL: Yedioth Books
ITALY: Marsilio
LATVIA: Petergailis
LITHUANIA: Obuolys
SLOVAKIA: Albatros Media Slovakia s.r.o.
SPAIN: Santillana
SWEDEN: Norstedts
WORLD ENGLISH: Pan Macmillan

About author


Minna Lindgren

Minna Lindgren (b. 1963) is a freelance journalist and columnist known for her whimsical writing style and fearless approach to topics as strange as opera and death. In addition to novels, she has authored nonfiction books on classical music. In 2009 Lindgren won the Bonnier Journalism Prize for her article entitled “Father’s Death” (“Isän kuolema”).

Lindgren is best known for the Sunset Grove trilogy, which has been sold to 17 territories, and the final part, The End of Sunset Grove, was nominated for the International Dublin Literature Award in 2019. She has also written three standalones: Angry Widow (2018), A Far Far Love (2019) and Hope Never Dies (2020).

Minna Lindgren’s books have been critical and commercial successes, in Finland and internationally.

Bibliography


2020, Literary Fiction, Humor

Hope Never Dies

Minna Lindgren


2019, Literary Fiction, Humor

A Far, Far Love

Minna Lindgren


2018, Literary Fiction, Humor

Angry Widow

Minna Lindgren


2015, Literary Fiction, Humor

The End of Sunset Grove

Minna Lindgren


2014, Literary Fiction, Humor

Escape from Sunset Grove

Minna Lindgren


2013, Literary Fiction, Humor

Death in Sunset Grove

Minna Lindgren

INHERITED LAND by Maria Turtschaninoff sold in auction to the Netherlands! 

We are very happy to announce that the Dutch auction for INHERITED LAND (Arvejord), a family saga by internationally bestselling and award-winning author Maria Turtschaninoff, has concluded and that the lucky publisher is Atlas Contact! Congratulations to Maria and Atlas Contact! The deal was closed by Sten-Erik Tammemäe and Elina Ahlbäck at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

Atlas Contact is one of the largest literary publishing houses in the Netherlands and Flanders and features a great list of international authors, such as Julian Barnes, Jhumpa Lahiri, Richard Powers, Salman Rushdie, Lionel Shriver, Elizabeth Strout, etc. INHERITED LAND will be featured as the lead European fiction title in Atlas Contact’s Fall 2023 catalogue.

Download the reading material for INHERITED LAND here!

INHERITED LAND has now been sold to 7 territories and counting – it will be our BIG BOOK in Frankfurt! The original Finland-Swedish edition was published in August by Förlaget to excellent reviews, and the title is already in its second printing. INHERITED LAND follows in the tradition of family sagas like One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, and the ancestral history holds a mirror up to the history of Finland as a nation, shown in this novel through snapshots of each character’s life.

The Dutch publisher Jessica Nash at Atlas Contact loves Maria Turtschaninoff and INHERITED LAND:
I couldn’t be more firmly convinced that INHERITED LAND and Atlas Contact would form a match made in heaven. It is also the rare kind of book that prompts utter love at first sight for me personally: formally and stylistically inventive without making any concessions to storytelling; a compelling, episodically structured book that challenges the reader to connect some of the dots herself (but which also leaves little ‘Easter eggs’ hidden between the lines for the attentive reader); a book that addresses an urgent subject for our times – how we humans treat the natural world that has been entrusted to us – without being heavy-handed about it; and most importantly: a book that zooms in on real characters of flesh and blood and gets the reader invested in their fates in just a few strokes of the pen. It is an amazing achievement from a writer with a brilliant future ahead of her. We would love to accompany Ms. Turtschaninoff on that journey.”
– Jessica Nash, Publisher, Atlas Contact, Netherlands

FILI translation grant application round is ongoing! FILI provides grants that can cover up to 70% of the costs of translating Finnish and Finland-Swedish titles to other languages. The deadline for the current application round is November 1st. You can find more information here: Translation and printing grants for publishers outside Finland – FILI

INHERITED LAND
by Maria Turtschaninoff
Förlaget, September 2022, 371 pp.

The roots of man and forest are intertwined in the depths of the earth.

Inherited Land tells multiple enchanting stories about short human lives on a small farmstead in the north of Finland with its golden cloudberries and the mythical woodland animals. The hub of the narrative is a marsh close to the farmstead, and nature is the constant while humans are like dragonflies: here one day, gone the next. Across four centuries, the people face wars, epidemics, and heartbreaks, but from the woods they find shelter and a place to be themselves

Inherited Land is a novel about the climate crisis without ever mentioning it by name. Instead, the novel explores what people have thought about their environment, how they have used it and why. The novel is a reminder of where we have come from, and what a relationship between humans and nature could look like in the future.

INHERITED LAND
ARVEJORD
Förlaget, 2022, 371 pp.

READING MATERIALS
Swedish edition
English sample and synopsis

RIGHTS SOLD:
FINLAND: Förlaget (orig. Finland-Swedish)
FINLAND: Tammi (Finnish)
AZERBAIJAN: Alatoran
DENMARK: Alpha Forlag
NETHERLANDS: Atlas Contact
ROMANIA: Editura Univers
SWEDEN: Förlaget

About author


Maria Turtschaninoff

Maria Turtschaninoff is known for crafting lyrical, historically inspired fantasy stories starring strong female protagonists. In addition to J.R.R. Tolkien, she counts Philip Pullman, Ursula K. Le Guin and C.S. Lewis among her favorite authors. She is a two-time winner of the Society of Swedish Literature Prize, a nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and winner of the 2014 Finlandia Junior Prize. Her Red Abbey Chronicles YA trilogy has been sold into 30 languages. Maria has a Master of Arts in human ecology and works full-time as a writer.

INHERITED LAND, Maria Turtschaninoff's first adult fiction novel, has been awarded the prestigious Swedish YLE Literature Prize 2022! This award is annually given to the best Finnish-Swedish book of the year during Helsinki Book Fair and is regarded as one of the most important award for Finnish-Swedish authors.

Bibliography


2022, Literary Fiction

Inherited Land

Maria Turtschaninoff


2018, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi: Red Mantle

Maria Turtschaninoff


2016, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Naondel

Maria Turtschaninoff


2014, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi

Maria Turtschaninoff

Hungarian rights sold for THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST!

We are thrilled to announce that THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST by internationally bestselling author Aki Ollikainen has just been sold to Hungary pre-publication, and the lucky publisher is Polar! The deal was closed by Sten-Erik Tammemäe at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

Polar are a publishing house specializing in publishing Scandinavian and Northern European literature. Their authors include Karen Blixen, Vigdis Hjorth, Pirkko Saisio, August Strindberg, Leena Krohn, Dag Solstad, Hjalmar Söderberg, Andrus Kivirähk, etc.

Download the English materials for THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST here!

THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
by Aki Ollikainen
Siltala, September 2022, 180 pp.

While on his rural tour in autumn 1914, the tenor singer Aarne Oden coughs up a life-threatening amount of blood, and he is diagnosed with tuberculosis. He is sent off to the tuberculosis sanatorium, the kingdom of those hanging on to life by just a thread.

At the same time, in a remote village in the north, the preacher and landowner Kustaa Anttola is preparing for the Michaelmas prayer proceedings. However, the preparations get interrupted when he finds the local madman Stye-Viljaami drinking in his barn. In his anger, Kustaa gives Viljami a heavy beating. During the prayers, Kustaa’s life is forever altered as Christ appears behind the window to listen to his sermon.

Aarne, who has recovered at the sanatorium, also finds himself in the north, supervising the transportation of munitions of the Russian Empire, from the coasts of the Arctic Ocean to the northernmost railroad station of the Empire. When spring comes, Aarne meets Christ on the shore of a wild lake and finds that the two have more in common than he thought. And soon, Kustaa Anttola finds two Christs on his land.

How do people see themselves when they’re forced to give up what they have constructed their identity on, and illness becomes the characteristic trait defining them? And how does one see their loved ones, marked by death and illness? What happens to a righteous preacher when the long-expected Christ arrives before him in the form of the creature most wretched?

Aki Ollikainen’s latest novel grows larger in size thanks to its lyrical language. The individual scenes are like expressionist paintings reaching over the visible world.

KRISTUKSEN TOINEN TULEMINEN
Siltala, September 2022, 180 pp.

READING MATERIALS
English sample and synopsis

RIGHTS SOLD:
FINLAND: Siltala (orig.)
HUNGARY: Polar

About author


Aki Ollikainen

Aki Ollikainen has studied social policy at the University of Jyväskylä and is a trained photographer. He has previously worked as an editor and, among other things, at a metal workshop, a library, and a post office. His debut novel White Hunger received the Helsingin Sanomat Literary Prize for Best Debut Novel of 2012 and was longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize in 2016. Ollikainen lives in Lohja with his wife and two children. Aki and his wife Milla form the pseudonym A.M. Ollikainen and have jointly published two crime novels.

Bibliography


2022, Literary Fiction

The Second Coming of Christ

Aki Ollikainen


2018, Literary Fiction

A Pastoral

Aki Ollikainen


2015, Literary Fiction

A Tale of Darkness

Aki Ollikainen


2013, Literary Fiction

White Hunger

Aki Ollikainen

New Sales For Aki Ollikainen And Johanna Sinisalo!

We are thrilled to announce that A PASTORAL by internationally bestselling author Aki Ollikainen has just been sold to Catalan, and the lucky publisher is Nits Blanques ! This is the 6th language for A PASTORAL and the 17th in total for Aki! The deal was closed by Elsa Lindström at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

Download the material for A PASTORAL here!

Download Aki’s newest title, THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST, here!

 

We are also happy to announce that Norwegian audio and ebook rights for BIRDBRAIN by Finlandia-Prize winning superstar of Finnish speculative fiction Johanna Sinisalo have been picked up by Cappelen Damm. The deal was closed by Anna Kappauf at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

Download the material for BIRDBRAIN here!

Download Johanna’s newest title, THE STORM FLUTE, here!

 

A PASTORAL by Aki Ollikainen
Literary Fiction

An idyllic midsummer’s day in Eastern Finland. People falling in love and taking care of each other, and nature sublime in its beauty. But darkness lurks around the corner…

Aki Ollikainen’s picturesque third novel is aglow with the rural idyll of a summer’s day and the fantasies of people wandering in the midsummer’s night. During a single day in Eastern Finland, the realities of multiple generations meet, time flows through itself, and strange things occur. And normal things occur as well. Two young people fall in love, two slightly older ones are struggling with their relationship, and two even older people have found a sublime tranquility in each other.

However, the magical world of A PASTORAL is also cruel and unpredictable. Dark clouds loom over the blue skies, a monstrous wolf wanders in the shadows and mocking ravens swing on a branch. And when the morning finally dawns, the ravenous death has raged amid the idyll.

 

BIRDBRAIN by Johanna Sinisalo
Fantasy & Science Fiction

Young Finnish couple, Jyrki and Heidi, go on the hiking trip of a lifetime in Australasia with Heart of Darkness as reading material. To Jyrki’s great surprise, his girlfriend Heidi demands to come with him, frightened by the idea of several months of solitude. The trip gradually turns into a tortuous thriller with belongings disappearing and, even more mysteriously, reappearing. The travellers come to be at the mercy of untamed nature Birdbrain describes Western people’s desperate longing for somewhere unspoilt and primitive with biting irony. At the same time, it reveals the dark side of this longing, showing it to be an insatiable desire to control, invade and destroy.. Birdbrain reveals the dark side of the explorer’s desire: the insatiable need to control, to invade and leave one’s mark on the landscape. But what happens when nature starts to fight back?

A PASTORAL

Rights sold: FINLAND: Siltala (orig.); ARMENIA: Guitank; FRANCE: Éditions Héloïse d’Ormesson; HUNGARY: Polar; POLAND: ArtRage, SPAIN (Catalan): Nits Blanques

 

 

BIRDBRAIN

Rights sold: FINLAND: Teos (orig.); FRANCE (Actes Sud), NORWAY (Cappelen Damm), UK (Peter Owen)

About author


Aki Ollikainen

Aki Ollikainen has studied social policy at the University of Jyväskylä and is a trained photographer. He has previously worked as an editor and, among other things, at a metal workshop, a library, and a post office. His debut novel White Hunger received the Helsingin Sanomat Literary Prize for Best Debut Novel of 2012 and was longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize in 2016. Ollikainen lives in Lohja with his wife and two children. Aki and his wife Milla form the pseudonym A.M. Ollikainen and have jointly published two crime novels.

About author


Johanna Sinisalo

Johanna Sinisalo (b. 1958) is a Finlandia-Prize winning superstar of Finnish speculative fiction. In addition to her nine novels, she has also written short fiction and film and television screenplays. Her works have been translated into twenty languages.

Sinisalo has won several literary prizes also abroad, such as the 2004 James Tiptree, Jr. Award and the 2017 Prometheus Award, and was nominated for the Nebula Award in 2008, the Prix Escapades in 2012, and the Grand Prix de L’Imaginaire in 2017.

In 2022, Johanna Sinisalo was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal for services to Finnish literature! Founded in 1943, the Pro Finlandia Medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland is a distinction awarded by the President of Finland to artists and writers in recognition of their long meritorious work and exceptional services to Finnish art, drama, literature and music.

Glowing Reviews for New Books in EALA Fall Catalogue!

“Marvellous”, “thrilling”, “impressive”… The critics and readers are in love with our titles, and so are we!
Perhaps the next match for you is among these titles?

Praise for Miss Stein’s Cook Leena Parkkinen

 Miss Stein’s Cook is a thrilling and tensive, multi-sided and multi-layered, thematically rich novel with a strong sensual power. [–] The answer to the ‘What really happened there?’ mystery is skillfully avoided for so long that on one hand, the reader feels impatient, and on the other hastens their reading to find the answer. The unbearableness and loveliness of reading were real at least for me.
-Kaisa Kurikka, Turun Sanomat

Download the English materials for MISS STEIN’S COOK here!

 

Praise for Inherited Land by Maria Turtschaninoff

 “Maria Turtschaninoff’s multi-layered and diverse narration INHERITED LAND is a sort of tribute to the forefathers, to all who have walked [on this earth] before us, to the earth we inherited and nature’s all beings. [–] Maria Turschaninoff’s novel is a marvellous reading experience, extremely touching, clever and sensual.”
– Marit Lindqvist on Svenska YLE

“Turtschaninoff credibly brings history to life; this is how it might have happened. But what touches most deeply are the contemporary depictions: the closer we get to everyday life and our own time, the more the characters touch me. [–] It is complete presence; the author has become one with the text. That is great storytelling.”
– Yvonne Granqvist Schultz in Österbottens Tidning newspaper

Download the English materials for INHERITED LAND here!

Praise for Where It All Begins by Salla Simukka

“Salla Simukka’s first novel for adults is skilled horror, playing with the threat of life and fitting the genre.”
– Mari Viertola in Turun Sanomat newspaper


Where It All Begins is interesting, rousing one’s imagination. It is both mystical and realistic in the best way. I think it is the perfect read for the darkening evenings of the autumn.”
– Kirjakaapin kummitus book blog

Download the English materials for WHERE IT ALL BEGINS here!

 

Praise for The Italian Game by Vera Vala

 The Italian Game begins a new crime series, and this opening title is impressing, the language and style are polished, and the narration keeps one in its grip until the end. [–] The Italian Game is also a novel about the depths of mind and memory and about facing a strongly rooted fear. The ending of this exciting title turned out to surprise me!”
– Jari Olavi Hiltunen in Satakunnan kansa newspaper

I listen to this on my runs and read the hardcover on my in-law’s couch. And wish for the book never to end! [–] Having a main character [in a psychologist’s profession] is not the most typical choice in crime literature. So refreshing! [–] A great opening for a series – I’m sure you’ll like it!”
– Satu Rämö, bestselling author of the Hildur crime series

Download the English materials for THE ITALIAN GAME here!

 

Praise for In Your Shadow by Martta Kaukonen

 The relationships between the characters and the way the puzzle pieces slowly but satisfyingly click together make this a story one wants to read in a single setting. [–] My expectations were truly high, for Kaukonen’s debut was so great. In my opinion, this book was at least as thrilling, and towards the end maybe even better than the debut Follow the Butterfly.”
– Fiktiofanin kynästä book blog

Cleverly hinted revelations [–] In Your Shadow has terrifying and dark scenes, but also a great deal of humor. [–] When reading, one’s own imagination gives a clear visual view of the text. In Your Shadow gives such a strong memory imprint that I really don’t want a painting of roses on my wall!”
– Kirsin Book Club

Download the English materials for IN YOUR SHADOW here!

INHERITED LAND
Arvejord
Förlaget, August 2022, 371pp.

Rights sold:  FINLAND: Förlaget (orig. Finland-Swedish),
AZERBAIJAN: Alatoran, FINLAND, Tammi (Finnish), SWEDEN: Förlaget

 

 

MISS STEIN’S COOK
Neiti Steinin keittäjätär
Otava, August 2022, 464 pp.

Rights sold: FINLAND: Otava (orig.)

 

 

WHERE IT ALL BEGINS
Tästä kaikki alkaa
Tammi, August 2022, 169 pp.

Rights sold: FINLAND: Otava (orig.)

 

 

THE ITALIAN GAME
Italialainen peli
WSOY, August 2022, 414 pp.

Rights sold: FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)

 

 

IN YOUR SHADOW
Sinun varjossasi
WSOY, July 2022, 276 pp.

Rights sold: FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)


First foreign sale for INHERITED LAND by Maria Turtschaninoff!

We are thrilled to announce that INHERITED LAND, the first literary fiction title by internationally bestselling author Maria Turtschaninoff has just been sold pre-publication to Azerbaijan, and the lucky publisher is Alatoran! The deal was closed by Sten-Erik Tammemäe at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency. Congratulations, Maria! Award-winning author Maria Turtschaninoff is known internationally for her young adult trilogy Red Abbey Chronicles: Maresi, Naondel, and Maresi Red Mantle, published in 31 territories.

INHERITED LAND is following in the tradition of family sagas like One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. The ancestral history holds a mirror up to the history of Finland as a nation, shown in this novel through snapshots of each character’s life.

INHERITED LAND, just published in Finland and Sweden by Förlaget (Arvejord, 371 pp) and will be published in Finnish by Tammi (Suomaa) in September, has received its first glowing reviews:
I read the book in one go. It kind of hurts me when I put it down: there is something that speaks to that part of me which is Finland-Swedish, which feels the pain of nostalgia while being a modern person in a world where we can do nothing but let go of the past as the future develops so terribly fast. [—] Turtschaninoff has written a hell of a humane book.[5 stars]
PE, goodreads.com

INHERITED LAND
by Maria Turtschaninoff
Förlaget, September 2022, 371 pp.

The roots of man and forest are intertwined in the depths of the earth.

Inherited Land tells multiple enchanting stories about short human lives on a small farmstead in the north of Finland with its golden cloudberries and the mythical woodland animals. The hub of the narrative is a marsh close to the farmstead, and nature is the constant while humans are like dragonflies: here one day, gone the next. Across four centuries, the people face wars, epidemics, and heartbreaks, but from the woods they find shelter and a place to be themselves

Inherited Land is a novel about the climate crisis without ever mentioning it by name. Instead, the novel explores what people have thought about their environment, how they have used it and why. The novel is a reminder of where we have come from, and what a relationship between humans and nature could look like in the future.

INHERITED LAND
ARVEJORD
Förlaget, 2022, 371 pp.

READING MATERIALS
Swedish edition
English sample and synopsis

RIGHTS SOLD:
FINLAND: Förlaget (orig. Finland-Swedish)
FINLAND: Tammi (Finnish)
AZERBAIJAN: Alatoran
SWEDEN: Förlaget

About author


Maria Turtschaninoff

Maria Turtschaninoff is known for crafting lyrical, historically inspired fantasy stories starring strong female protagonists. In addition to J.R.R. Tolkien, she counts Philip Pullman, Ursula K. Le Guin and C.S. Lewis among her favorite authors. She is a two-time winner of the Society of Swedish Literature Prize, a nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and winner of the 2014 Finlandia Junior Prize. Her Red Abbey Chronicles YA trilogy has been sold into 30 languages. Maria has a Master of Arts in human ecology and works full-time as a writer.

INHERITED LAND, Maria Turtschaninoff's first adult fiction novel, has been awarded the prestigious Swedish YLE Literature Prize 2022! This award is annually given to the best Finnish-Swedish book of the year during Helsinki Book Fair and is regarded as one of the most important award for Finnish-Swedish authors.

Bibliography


2022, Literary Fiction

Inherited Land

Maria Turtschaninoff


2018, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi: Red Mantle

Maria Turtschaninoff


2016, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Naondel

Maria Turtschaninoff


2014, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi

Maria Turtschaninoff

Excellent Reviews for New Books in EALA Fall Catalogue!

New books, new reviews

We are really happy to share some excellent reviews and wonderful praise for our Fall Catalogue New Books which are already creating buzz internationally.

Praise for The Italian Game by Vera Vala

 The title has both psychological and societal depth, which make the novel a fully rounded one. [It] for example examines the differences between the Italian and Finnish culture. [–] In my opinion the psychological expertise of the author is especially rewarding.
– Kirjakaapin kummitus blog

The Italian Game is a true cornucopia. I loved the descriptions of Italy, its society and the life style of the Italians. [–] I liked the charaters, they are considerably more well-rounded and psychologically more sound than those usually seen in crime novels. [The Finnish] Salla Kotka is an interesting protagonist both for her intelligence and for her traumas and darkness.
– Marin kirjailijat blog


Italialainen peli
WSOY, August 2022, 414 pp.

Rights sold: FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)

Download the English materials

Praise for The Night of Ancient Lights by Hanna Meretoja

 Overall Hanna Meretoja’s  The Night of Ancient Lights s a magnificent novel. It is immensely inspiring, a narrative that praises life and humanity in its diverse lights and shades, a kind of ode to life and love. Anyone who reflects on nature and humanity and their relationship should read this book.
– Vartija

Meretoja’s debut novel is a direct hit. The Night of Ancient Lights is also a very stylish literary work. The narration with its richly coloured imagery is characterized by precision. The narration is impressively graphic.
– Satakunnan Kansa


Elotulet
WSOY, June 2022, 462 pp.

Rights sold: FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)

Download the English materials

Praise for In Your Shadow by Martta Kaukonen

 Martta Kaukonen’s IN YOUR SHADOW is an undeniably impactful work. Narratively, the book is compelling: the story reveals clues about the characters’ past and motives in small pieces and in a carefully thought-out sequence.
– Dekkarihelmenkalastaja Instagram  


Sinun varjossasi
WSOY, July 2022, 276 pp.

Rights sold: FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)

Download the English materials

Praise for Moonday Letters By Emmi Itäranta

 The resulting narrative brilliantly weaves together its two central questions: whether one marriage can survive, and whether humanity can find a way to thrive that does not ultimately rest on exploitation and inequality.” 

The Guardian

Kuunpäivän kirjeet
Teos, September 2020, 336 pp.

Rights sold: FINLAND: Teos (orig.), CZECHIA: Albatros Media, HUNGARY: Metropolis Media Group, WORLD ENGLISH (print, e-book): Titan Books ; WORLD ENGLISH (audio): Recorded Books

Download the English materials

Praise for Miss Stein’s Cook Leena Parkkinen

 Miss Stein’s Cook is a thrilling and tensive, multi-sided and multi-layered, thematically rich novel with a strong sensual power. [–] The answer to the ‘What really happened there?’ mystery is skillfully avoided for so long that on one hand, the reader feels impatient, and on the other hastens their reading to find the answer. The unbearableness and loveliness of reading were real at least for me.

-Kaisa Kurikka, Turun Sanomat

Neiti Steinin keittäjätär
Otava, August 2022, 464 pp.

Rights sold: FINLAND: Otava (orig.)

Download the English materials

Praise for The Magician’s Daughters by Emmi Pesonen

Emmi Pesonen’s The Magician’s Daughters takes a skillful deep dive into the essence of memories, the heavy weight of family, the complex cores of relationships. [–] The children’s perspective unfolds masterfully, and their worries and worlds come movingly close to the reader. [–] Pesonen carries the story well, and the clear narration gives it space without extra flourishes. And the best thing is that The Magician’s Daughters stays in one’s mind for a long while.

-Johanna Suominen, Savon Sanomat

Taikurin tyttäret
Otava, August 2022, 267 pp.

Rights sold: FINLAND: Otava (orig.)

Download the English materials

Introducing: EALA Fall 2022 Fiction Catalogue!

We are thrilled to present our Fiction Catalogue for Fall 2022: Excellent Literary Fiction works by award-winning, bestselling and debut authors, examining truth and make-believe as well as unique historical novels, titles about death and life. Our Crime List is expanding with new exciting voices: from psychological thrillers to true crime.

From our new catalogue, we’ve picked some outstanding titles for you – take a look at them below!

View the Fall 2022 Catalogue here! 

 

Enchantment

by Riikka Pulkkinen

This shiningly beautiful novel is an autopsy of girlhood, power, and truth.

Riikka Pulkkinen is a shining star in Finnish literature whose novel True sold to 19 territories! 

Philippa Laakso, aged seventeen, is found dead in her yard at home. Nothing suggests a crime, and everyone who knew her is certain she wasn’t suicidal. On the other hand, all who knew her seem to hold a differing view of her. The investigation sees them being interviewed, but behind every view and story is Philippa’s influence.

Riikka Pulkkinen’s anticipated novel examines the power and comfort of make-believe and the thin line between love and play. Every character in the novel sees Philippa in his or her own way, as a mirror for fantasizing, anger, aspirations, comfort, and freedom, and uses their perceived image of Philippa to their own ends.

 

Inherited Land

by Maria Turtschaninoff

An episodic work of literary fiction depicting humans’ relationship with nature across generations.

First adult novel by Maria Turtschaninoff whose The Red Abbey Chronicles sold to 31 territories!

INHERITED LAND tells multiple enchanting stories about short human lives on a small farmstead in the north of Finland with its golden cloudberries and the mythical woodland animals. The hub of the narrative is a marsh close to the farmstead, and nature is the constant while humans are like dragonflies: here one day, gone the next. Across four centuries, the people face wars, epidemics, and heartbreaks, but from the woods they find shelter and a place to be themselves.

INHERITED LAND is a novel about the climate crisis without ever mentioning it by name. Instead, the novel explores what people have thought about their environment, how they have used it and why. The novel is a reminder of where we have come from, and what a relationship between humans and nature could look like in the future.

 

The Night of Ancient Lights

by Hanna Meretoja

Close friends come together to watch a chain of bonfires blaze across the archipelago as the proximity of death ignites an intense passion for life.

For readers of Rachel Cusk and Maggie Nelson

Elea has just heard that she is seriously ill and wants to share with friends the sense of urgency that shakes her to her core. The push-and-pull of hope and despair permeates the narration that flows in the rhythm of the sea, in dialogue with Virginia Woolf’s The Waves and Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book.

This intellectually fierce and passionate one-evening novel threads philosophical reflections into deeply intimate perceptions in a way that readers of Rachel Cusk and Maggie Nelson will recognize.

The novel has received glowing reviews – it has been praised for its lyrical language, wisdom and boldness, complex philosophical reflection on illness, precise narration, and passion for life, love and nature.

 

The Italian Game

by Vera Vala

“The heart of darkness is in the human mind.”

Elena Ferrante meets Jo Nesbo!

The Greater Milan area lives in fear. A mysterious stalker is terrorizing people, and a serial killer called the Harlequin is picking their victims. Are the two cases connected?

Salla Kotka, starting her career as a forensic psychologist, gets pulled into the threatening chain of events as she begins working for a defense attorney. Their client is the suspected serial killer, and Salla needs to help the defense uncover the truth. But, in the end, does truth carry any value in the courtroom?

To make matters worse, her new job seems like a battlefield, mined by suspicious colleagues and hostile clients. While Salla examines the darkest sides in others, she is also trying to understand her own past. Can she trust anyone, even herself?

 

Unsolved – The Case of Elli Immo

by Elina Backman & Heidi Holmavuo

A true crime story of a murder committed 67 years ago and the case being reopened based on the work of two private detectives.

In 1955, a young woman, Elli, was found murdered near her home in a small town in Northern Finland. Her father, who worked as a policeman, had also died in suspicious circumstances. Elli’s murder, however, remained unsolved. In 1972, a group of police officers demanded reopening the murder investigation, citing destroyed evidence and protection of someone involved.

Based on this claim, crime writers Elina Backman and Heidi Holmavuo started investigating the case in the 2020s. They travelled to the town of Kemi where the murder happened, interviewed locals and heard chilling things previously kept secret. Based on their research, the police decided to reopen the investigation.

 

In Your Shadow

by Martta Kaukonen

The great post -#MeToo thriller about past trauma and the hunger for justice.

A new thriller by Martta Kaukonen whose debut Follow the Butterfly sold to 13 territories! 

The harassment of women should be kept silent no longer, a small group of activists declares and demands justice. But at what price?

When #metoo spread through the media like wildfire, victims of harassment felt hopeful. But the fire died, and things did not change. Traumas did not disappear, and justice is yet to come.

Sixty-year-old Anne hosts meetings for a group of people who will not be silenced. They start rehearsing a performance as an apology to the victims of harassment. Among them are acclaimed actress Minna, who has spoken about her experiences publicly, former straight-A student Suvi who doesn’t want to leave her home anymore out of fear, and performance artist Roni who’s looking to upgrade his feminism from words to actions. Can they trust each other? Are they driven by a desire for justice or a wish for revenge?


3 new Fiction deals!

We are extremely happy to announce that Naklada Ljevak has acquired the Croatian rights for Johanna Sinisalo’s novel BLOOD OF ANGELS and Elina Hirvonen’s novel WHEN TIME RUNS OUT.

Finnish literature is conquering Croatia! Another prestigious publishing house in Croatia, Mala Zvona, has acquired the Croatian rights to Tiina Raevaara’s Runeberg Prize-winning novella collection I DON’T FEEL YOU BY MY SIDE. The deals were closed by Sten-Erik Tammemäe at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

Naklada Ljevak praised both BLOOD OF ANGELS and WHEN TIME RUNS OUT:

Naklada Ljevak decided to publish the novel BLOOD OF ANGELS by award-winning Finnish author Johanna Sinisalo because its subject – environmental disaster caused by annihilation of the bees – becomes an increasingly urgent problem and because of the highest literary value of the novel that combines ecological warning, mythological themes and human relationships.

Naklada Ljevak is proud to announce publishing the Croatian edition of the haunting eco-thriller and psychological drama WHEN TIME RUNS OUT by one of the most esteemed Finnish writers, Elina Hirvonen. The timely and universal theme of the relationship within a family set against the backdrop of climate crisis will surely resonate with Croatian readers.
Nada Brnardic, Editor, Naklada Ljevak, Croatia


BLOOD OF ANGELS
ENKELTEN VERTA
by Johanna Sinisalo
Teos, 2011, 275 pp.

“The queen is dead. The bees are gone. Thus, the world is about to end. But if you follow the bees, there are doors in the air. And a desperate man is ready to go through one.”

Albert Einstein is claimed to have said that if bees disappear from the earth, mankind has four years left to live. When mass bee-vanishings of unprecedented scope and devastation hit the United States, Orvo, a beekeeper, knows all too well where it will lead. And one day, when Orvo goes to check on his hives, he is forced to witness something he wishes he had never lived to see. The queen is dead. The epidemic has spread to Europe. The world is coming to an end.

The light of Orvo’s life is his son, Eero, whose secret animal activist existence Orvo discovers far too late. Eero’s activities as a defender of animal rights and an ardent opponent of Orvo’s inherited way of life propel the family into irreversible, gutwrenching conflict. Orvo takes a desperate step onto a path where only he and the bees know the way… This novel is a magical plunge into the myth of death and immortality, a tale of human blindness in the face of overwhelming choices and inevitabilities.

Download the full English PDF here!


WHEN TIME RUNS OUT
KUN AIKA LOPPUU
by Elina Hirvonen
WSOY, 2015, 256 pp.

Helsinki, less than a decade in the future. Laura Anttila is lecturing at the university on climate change, hope, and the responsibility of humans. In the hallway, she is confronted by two police officers.

Laura’s daughter Aava encounters a woman who has just lost her daughter in a Somalian village. Having returned to her apartment, Laura hears that someone is shooting at people from the rooftop of the Lasipalatsi building in Helsinki.

When Time Runs Out is a powerful novel about parenthood, about finding your place, and about the responsibility of people to intervene in the course of events. Hirvonen wakes the reader to ponder what climate change and the lack of clean water can entail for humans in the future.

Download materials here!


I DON’T FEEL YOU BY MY SIDE
EN TUNNE SINUA VIERELLÄNI
by Tiina Raevaara
Teos, 2010, 260 pp.

A young man is looking for his fate while observing dragonflies, an unknown something takes the life of Matilda, and Mr. Gordon ends up in a birds’ hospital.

Tiina Raevaara’s I DON’T FEEL YOU BY MY SIDE is a novella collection, the texts of which, veering into the surreal, take the reader on a journey to the confluences of man and nature, dreams and subconsciousness, the circle of death and life. In this collection of 14 novellas, Raevaara shines the spotlight on the human mind and the forces tearing through its realities. The feelings of alienation and longing combine with a clear language and different narrators, each of whom wants to connect with themselves or someone next to them before it’s too late.

Request materials here!

ENKELTEN VERTA
Teos, 2011, 275 pp.

Reading materials:
English manuscript

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Teos (orig.)
BULGARIA: Perseus Publishing House
CROATIA: Naklada Ljevak
DENMARK: Jensen & Dalgaard
FRANCE: Actes Sud
HUNGARY: Metropolis Media Group
POLAND: Foksal Publishing Group
UNITED KINGDOM: Peter Owen Limited

 

KUN AIKA LOPPUU
WSOY, 2015, 256 pp.

Reading materials:
Finnish edition

Rights sold:
FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)
CROATIA: Naklada Ljevak
CZECH REPUBLIC: Omega Publishing
ESTONIA: Varrak
LITHUANIA: Baltos Lankos
SWEDEN: Leopard Förlag
UK: Manilla

 

EN TUNNE SINUA VIERELLÄNI
Teos, 2010, 260 pp.

Reading materials:
Finnish edition

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Teos (orig.)
CROATIA: Mala Zvona

About author


Elina Hirvonen

Elina Hirvonen is an award-winning author of adults’ and children’s prose, a journalist and documentary filmmaker. She has written four highly acclaimed adults’ novels that are at the same time tragic and beautiful. She is also known for her picture book series Princess Rascal, and a middle-grade trilogy Julia & P.A.L. Her books have been translated to 15 languages.

Her new novel, The Logbook of Love, is published in Finland in August 2023. Hirvonen has received the Kalevi Jäntti Prize and the Nuori Aleksis Prize, and has been nominated for Finlandia Prize and Debut Prize.

About author


Johanna Sinisalo

Johanna Sinisalo (b. 1958) is a Finlandia-Prize winning superstar of Finnish speculative fiction. In addition to her nine novels, she has also written short fiction and film and television screenplays. Her works have been translated into twenty languages.

Sinisalo has won several literary prizes also abroad, such as the 2004 James Tiptree, Jr. Award and the 2017 Prometheus Award, and was nominated for the Nebula Award in 2008, the Prix Escapades in 2012, and the Grand Prix de L’Imaginaire in 2017.

In 2022, Johanna Sinisalo was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal for services to Finnish literature! Founded in 1943, the Pro Finlandia Medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland is a distinction awarded by the President of Finland to artists and writers in recognition of their long meritorious work and exceptional services to Finnish art, drama, literature and music.

About author


Tiina Raevaara

Tiina Raevaara (b. 1979) is a writer, science journalist, and biologist who received a PhD for her work in genetics. She received the State Award for Public Information and the Pro Scientia Prize from the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters. She has published eight novels, three non-fiction books, and a novella collection which was awarded the Runeberg Prize. Her suspense novel Double Helix (2020), the opening chapter of a new thriller series, received the Laurin Kirja audio book award, and the second installment in the series, Polar Vortex (2021), has been widely praised.

Raevaara’s books combine grand perspectives of natural science with compelling literary expression. She draws inspiration from Nordic nature, the major questions of science, and the complexities of humanity.

Raevaara lives in Kerava, a small town in Southern Finland, and goes on daily walks in the forest with her two black dogs.

MY FRIEND NATALIA published in the US as a paperback!

We’re excited to share the news that Laura Lindstedt’s MY FRIEND NATALIA has just been published as a paperback in the US!

Published by prestigious W.W. Norton / Liveright, and translated by award-winning David Hackston, MY FRIEND NATALIA has been listed as The New York Times Editor’s choice, and the review in New York Times is exciting:

“— This is the book’s tease, that Natalia — eccentric, unruly, compelling — will be definitively “solved.” But she’s not a dramatic principal, not a thing able to fire real bullets. This was her psychologist’s figure of speech and as such probably tells us more about the psychologist than the patient. The deeper, indeed more layered, mystery is, it emerges, the novel’s chimerical narrator. — Laura Lindstedt’s sly, intriguing novel.” -Hermione Hoby, New York Times 

Download the full English manuscript for MY FRIEND NATALIA here

The rights have eben sold to 13 countries, but are still available in Denmark, Spain, Czech Republic, Turkey, Bulgaria, Latvia, China, Spain, Iceland, Japan etc.

This provocative Finnish author enters the fray of American literature (thanks to translation from David Hackston) with a racy, wonderfully weird novel about a therapist’s sessions with a sex-obsessed woman.”  Entertainment Weekly

“Hypnotic. . . [A] surprisingly suspenseful story touching on psychology, philosophy, and sex.”
Arianna Rebolini, Buzzfeed

“Throughout the novel, Natalia riffs on Sartre, Beauvoir, and others, baiting the psychologist with sexually charged critiques of patriarchal philosophy.” ― Publishers Weekly


MY FRIEND NATALIA
by Laura Lindstedt

Natalia cannot stop thinking about sex. A mesmerizing tale of one woman’s potent affliction by award-winning Finnish writer Laura Lindstedt. Narrated by an unnamed, ungendered therapist who leaps at the chance to employ their most experimental methods, My Friend Natalia offers a gripping examination of the power dynamics always present but rarely ever spoken about in therapy. “Something flared within me,” the therapist notes, “and it wasn’t merely sympathy, the emotion I feel for most of my clients. It was more like a sudden experience of harmony, wholly inappropriate given the circumstances.”


Laura Lindstedt (b. 1976) became a critical darling with her adoption-themed debut novel Scissors (Sakset, Teos 2007), which earned her a nomination for the Finlandia Prize, the country’s most prestigious literary honour. She is currently revising her Ph.D. thesis on French author Nathalie Sarraute. Lindstedt’s second novel Oneiron (Teos 2015) is a work of speculative fiction that takes place in the mysterious moments that follow one’s death. Oneiron has continued Lindstedt’s critical success, earning her the coveted 2015 Finlandia Prize. Lindstedt’s latest novel My Friend Natalia has been a critical success and the rights have been sold to 13 territories.

Ystäväni Natalia
Teos, 2019, 240pp

RIGHTS SOLD:

FINLAND: Teos (orig.)
ESTONIA: Rahva Raamat AS
FRANCE: Gallimard
GERMANY: DTV
HUNGARY: Scolar Kiado
ITALY: Elliot Edizioni
LITHUANIA: BALTO
NETHERLANDS & BELGIUM: De Bezige Bij
NORWAY: Oktober
ROMANIA: Humanitas Fiction
SWEDEN: Norstedts
USA: W.W. Norton / Liveright

About author


Laura Lindstedt

Laura Lindstedt (b. 1976) became a critical darling with her adoption-themed debut novel Scissors (Sakset, Teos 2007), which earned her a nomination for the Finlandia Prize, the country’s most prestigious literary honour. She is currently revising her Ph.D. thesis on French author Nathalie Sarraute. Lindstedt’s second novel Oneiron (Teos 2015) is a work of speculative fiction that takes place in the mysterious moments that follow one’s death. Oneiron has continued Lindstedt’s critical success, earning her the coveted 2015 Finlandia Prize. Lindstedt’s latest novel My Friend Natalia has been a critical success and the rights have been sold to 12 territories.

Bibliography


2019, Literary Fiction

My Friend Natalia

Laura Lindstedt


2015, Literary Fiction

Oneiron

Laura Lindstedt


2007, Literary Fiction

Scissors

Laura Lindstedt

Ullstein pre-empts German rights to both MY ONLY HOME and the upcoming novel by Hanna Brotherus!

We are extremely happy to share some wonderful news today: MY ONLY HOME by Hanna Brotherus has now been pre-empted by Ullstein -one of the most prestigious publishing houses in Germany!

Ullstein also pre-empted the upcoming Hanna Brotherus novel FOR MY LIFE, that will be published in Finland in September 2022 by WSOY. The deal was closed by Toomas Aasmäe and Elina Ahlbäck at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

Ullstein couldn’t praise Hanna Brotherus more:

MY ONLY HOME is a breathtaking, infectious book. Not only is it written with rare personal urgency, we believe it will be read and experienced by its readers in a highly personal way – by everyone who has children, everyone who has siblings, a partner, a mother. It is alive with honesty, animated by the quest for truth, and driven by a deep yearning for peace. We are happy and proud to welcome Hanna Brotherus at Ullstein and introduce her incredible voice to German-language readers.
– Karsten Kredel, Publisher and CEO, Ullstein Verlag, Germany

Download the full Finnish ms for MY ONLY HOME by clicking here.

With her debut novel MY ONLY HOME, a dancer and choreographer Hanna Brotherus has also redeemed her place as a writer.

Her book was the #1 Finnish fiction bestseller in 2021 with more than 66.000 copies sold and MY ONLY HOME is also on the top lists of most listened audiobooks on both Storytel and BookBeat in 2021.

My passion is to join together different people from different backgrounds and age groups. I believe in intuition, in the power of the touch and presence.
-Hanna Brotherus.

 

 


MY ONLY HOME by Hanna Brotherus

When her children leave home, a woman takes a deep dive into her past.
She wants to understand all the lives she has lived. She wants to examine whose have been the eyes she has seen herself through, who have been the ones she has yearned to walk beside her, and to understand what she still has ahead of her.

And she wants to begin anew anything that is possible.

ESTONIAN PRAISE:

MY ONLY HOME is a story about life itself. A dancer writing about her own life, her identity and troubles. The Finnish origin and Finnishness of the book doesn’t mean it wouldn’t touch the soul of readers in Estonia. Because in the end, regardless of our nationality, all of us will only have ourselves – our only home.
– Piret Saluri, translator, Estonia

My Only Home has already sold more than 66.000 copies and it has been reprinted six times. The reader feedback emphasizes just how moving the striking honesty in the book is and how well one can identify with it. The book moves you, touches you, cleanses you and makes a profound impact on you.

Hanna Brotherus’ debut novel plumbs through a woman’s different life stages without too much embellishment and in a relatable way.

My Only Home is a fearless auto-fictive novel about the frenzy for life and the acceptance of incompleteness.

When her children leave their home, the woman wants to take a deep dive into the past. She wants to understand all the lives she has lived. She wants to examine whose have been the eyes she has seen herself through, who have been the ones she has yearned to walk beside her, and to understand what she still has ahead of her. And she wants to begin anew anything that is possible.

An uncompromising journey into the truth behind the memories begins. The gates are wide open when the woman realizes that she is the most important person in her life. Her body is her only home.


FOR MY LIFE by Hanna Brotherus

For My Life is a story about the aging of a woman. The novel contemplates the essence of independence and one’s own body, the connections one creates with family and friends, and the transience of life.
Her life as an artist and the mother of four children has kept a woman in motion incessantly. She’s found the meaning in the needs and hopes of others. Once her children leave their childhood home, she needs to find purpose for her days once again. Freedom is difficult to grasp, the future is hard to see.

When the old family summer villa is sold, it’s time to dispose of things. The important memories. The clear autumn air sees the woman set out on her own for the villa where no one is waiting for her – no one except the inevitable change. She goes through her life and amidst the silence she finds a path to follow.
For My Life is as brave and honest as the debut novel My Only Home, which gained immense popularity within an exceptionally large readership.

MY ONLY HOME
Ainoa kotini, WSOY, March, 2021 331 pp.

RIGHTS SOLD:

FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)

ESTONIA: Varrak
GERMANY: Ullstein (2-book deal)

READING MATERIAL:
English sample and synopsis


 

FOR MY LIFE
Henkeni edestä, WSOY, Septmeber, 2022

RIGHTS SOLD:

FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)
GERMANY: Ullstein (2-book deal)

About author


Hanna Brotherus

Dancer, director and choreographer Hanna Brotherus is constantly addressing and probing the prevalent questions of society. Brotherus is a pioneer in community stage art, with an extraordinary ability to unite different groups of people and collaborators.

In her work, Brotherus has managed to unreservedly involve both cutting-edge artistic professionals, recovering addicts, daycare children, the elderly and many more.

With her debut novel ’My Only Home’, Hanna Brotherus has also redeemed her place as writer. Her book has become a major bestseller and presently Hanna is working on a new title.
Hanna’s exceptional experience as a performing dance artist also contributes creatively to her writing by offering a corporeal perspective that touches the readers in a unique way.

”My passion is to join together different people from different backgrounds and age groups. I believe in intuition, in the power of the touch and presence”.

Bibliography


2022, Literary Fiction

For My Life

Hanna Brotherus


2021, Literary Fiction

My Only Home

Hanna Brotherus

Miika Nousiainen’s ROOTS now sold to Poland!

We are really happy to announce, that ROOTS by Miika Nousiainen has now been acquired by Książkowe Klimaty in Poland!
The deal was closed by Toomas Aasmäe at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

POLISH PRAISE:

„Roots” by Mika Nousiainen is touching, wise and entertaining at the same time. Reading it was, for me, a delightful mixture of laughter, amazement and melancholy, all in just right proportions. This is the story of searching for the truth about ourselves, of courage to face the unknown — and of a family that was reunited for the first time. This beautiful story made me reflect back on my life and my family history — and made me think about so many stories yet to be found, so many bad myths to be put right. I am thrilled that we will have it in Polish!
– Sebastian Musielak, translator, Poland

Roots has already been sold to 8 countries, but is still available in Denmark, Norway, Greece, Romania, Latvia, Korea, UK, US, Albania, Turkey etc

Download the English sample and synopsis for ROOTS here

ROOTS
Juurihoito
Otava, 2016, 250pp

RIGHTS SOLD:

FINLAND: Otava (orig.)

CZECH REPUBLIC: XYZ
ESTONIA: Eesti Raamat
GERMANY: Nagel & Kimche
HUNGARY: Kossuth
ITALY: Iperborea
NETHERLANDS: Prometheus
POLAND: Książkowe Klimaty
SWEDEN: Brombergs

About author


Miika Nousiainen

Miika Nousiainen writes sharp, gentle and often tragicomical novels about surprising themes like long-distance running, the desire to be Swedish, and dentistry. He works as a journalist and writes also for television.

Bibliography


2020, Commercial/Upmarket, Humor

Facelift

Miika Nousiainen


2016, Humor

Roots

Miika Nousiainen


2007, Humor

Raspberry Boat Refugee

Miika Nousiainen

Estonian rights for MY ONLY HOME by Hanna Brotherus sold in an auction!

The winner of the Estonian auction for MY ONLY HOME by Hanna Brotherus is Varrak!

We are really happy to let you know that the auction in Estonia for MY ONLY HOME by Hanna Brotherus has now ended and the winner is the largest publishing house in Estonia – Varrak!
The deal was closed by Toomas Aasmäe at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

Haruki Murakami, Elena Ferrante, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Kazuo Ishiguro, Margaret Atwood, Mihhail Bulgakov are just some of Varrak’s authors.

Here’s what the Estonians said:

MY ONLY HOME is a story about life itself. A dancer writing about her own life, her identity, and troubles. The Finnish origin and Finnishness of the book doesn’t mean it wouldn’t touch the soul of readers in Estonia. Because in the end, regardless of our nationality, all of us will only have ourselves – our only home.
– Piret Saluri, translator, Estonia

Download the English synopsis and sample for MY ONLY HOME by clicking here.

With her debut novel MY ONLY HOME, a dancer and choreographer Hanna Brotherus has also redeemed her place as a writer.

Her book was the #1 Finnish fiction bestseller in 2021 with more than 60.000 copies sold and MY ONLY HOME is also on the top lists of most listened audiobooks on both Storytel and BookBeat in 2021.

Presently Hanna Brotherus is already working on a new title.


MY ONLY HOME by Hanna Brotherus

When her children leave home, a woman takes a deep dive into her past.
She wants to understand all the lives she has lived. She wants to examine whose have been the eyes she has seen herself through, who have been the ones she has yearned to walk beside her, and to understand what she still has ahead of her.

And she wants to begin anew anything that is possible.

My Only Home has already sold more than 60.000 copies and it has been reprinted six times. The reader feedback emphasizes just how moving the striking honesty in the book is and how well one can identify with it. The book moves you, touches you, cleanses you, and makes a profound impact on you.
Hanna Brotherus’ debut novel plumbs through a woman’s different life stages without too much embellishment and in a relatable way.

My Only Home is a fearless auto-fictive novel about the frenzy for life and the acceptance of incompleteness.
When her children leave their home, the woman wants to take a deep dive into the past. She wants to understand all the lives she has lived. She wants to examine whose have been eyes she has seen herself through, who have been the ones she has yearned to walk beside her, and to understand what she still has ahead of her. And she wants to begin anew anything that is possible. An uncompromising journey into the truth behind the memories begins. The gates are wide open when the woman realizes that she is the most important person in her life. Her body is her only home.

MY ONLY HOME
Ainoa kotini, WSOY, March, 2021 331 pp.

RIGHTS SOLD:

FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)
ESTONIA: Varrak

READING MATERIAL:
English sample and synopsis

About author


Hanna Brotherus

Dancer, director and choreographer Hanna Brotherus is constantly addressing and probing the prevalent questions of society. Brotherus is a pioneer in community stage art, with an extraordinary ability to unite different groups of people and collaborators.

In her work, Brotherus has managed to unreservedly involve both cutting-edge artistic professionals, recovering addicts, daycare children, the elderly and many more.

With her debut novel ’My Only Home’, Hanna Brotherus has also redeemed her place as writer. Her book has become a major bestseller and presently Hanna is working on a new title.
Hanna’s exceptional experience as a performing dance artist also contributes creatively to her writing by offering a corporeal perspective that touches the readers in a unique way.

”My passion is to join together different people from different backgrounds and age groups. I believe in intuition, in the power of the touch and presence”.

Bibliography


2022, Literary Fiction

For My Life

Hanna Brotherus


2021, Literary Fiction

My Only Home

Hanna Brotherus

Introducing: EALA Spring 2022 Fiction Catalogue!

The EALA Spring 2022 Rights Guide is here!

Our titles represent the best in literary fiction and in crime fiction with awarded authors, in addition to extremely strong historical and humour titles!

Browse the catalogue here.

We have picked out a few new exciting titles – take a look!


MURDER ON THE ISLE OF BLISS by Eeva Louko
A crime-solving journalist investigates her father’s murder and the secrets of the tight community

  • This opening of a new cozy crime series is a perfect combination of surprising twists and messy relationships!

After living abroad for many years, thirty-something Ronja returns to her childhood home in Lauttasaari, Helsinki after her father is found murdered by the seaside. Welcoming her back are a group of old friends whom it’s both comforting and painful to see again, and the young police officer assigned to the case who does not seem to be doing his work properly. Using the skills she’s learned from working as a journalist, Ronja starts investigating the background of her distant father, uncovering the old secrets of the community that have been kept under wraps until now. When everyone knows everyone, each person becomes a suspect.

PRAISE:
“This debutant has crafted a multifaceted, clever, surprising and truly entertaining plot, which is evidence of her talent for this specific genre.” – Antti Majander in Helsingin Sanomat



LILI FLAME INVESTIGATES #1: MURDER AT THE MANSION by Laura Andersson
The beginning of this feel-good crime series charms with its wit!

  • A strong female lead, societal bling, and mysteries! Everything good in one book!

Post-war Helsinki is full of people looking to build a new life, and Lili Flame, who spent the war years in the US as a housemaid, is among them. However, the housekeeping gets swept aside when Lili breaks away from the traditional womanly roles of her time and begins a career as a private eye solving crimes which are too sensitive for the police.

Lili gets help from her husband, a gay man who’s becoming a companion like no other – even if the true nature of their marriage has to be kept a secret. The first case leads her to the party of a rich corporate family. The glamor and glitz of this segment of society is blinding, until the investigation takes a tragic turn and Lili realizes she has a much bigger mystery on her hands than she thought.

Inspired by Agatha Christie and the screwball comedies of the 30s, Lili will delight anyone looking for a good mystery, humor, and a little escapism!

For more Crime Fiction titles in our new catalogue: click here


THE SILK SISTERS #1: CHARLOTTA by Sara Medberg
Glamor, the courtly life, beautiful dresses, and passion!

  • A new series about the Grand Duchy of Finland in the spirit of Jane Austen.

Strict class hierarchy and fabulous silk ruffles rule in the 19th century Åbo, where seamstress Charlotta Silke is looking for her own Mr. Darcy. When Baron Ridderlöw of Starfire Manor hires Charlotta as a lady’s maid for her sister, both their lives change for good. Charlotta gets her hands on Jane Austen’s newly published Pride and Prejudice, which alters the way she sees her role as a woman. But the book’s ideas of modern love, marriage and early feminism are put to the test as the bitter war-torn Baron Ridderlöw becomes romantically interested in Charlotta. Can an ordinary lady’s maid have it all – a meaningful life and the man of her dreams?


ANNA OF HAGA MANOR by Riikka-Maria Rosenberg
Life and love of the nobility in 18th century Finland!

  • Opening chapter of a new series about historical women

Anna of Haga Manor is an enchantingly sensuous historical novel that transports the reader to 18th century Finland, still part of Sweden then, and into the middle of a certain love story.

Anna Magdalena Lilliebrunn, a noblewoman nearing her forties, has a stain on her reputation and the role of an old maid looms in her future. Everything is set to change, however, as the notoriously hot-tempered officer Karl Gustaf Uggla from the neighboring Haga Manor is chosen to be Anna’s husband.

At the Manor, Anna is met by a frigid atmosphere. The reserved relatives and her husband’s lover make sureshe will neither feel at home nor become lady of the house. Will the tough and self-willed Anna be capable of living in the manner that she believes in?

Anna of Haga Manor is the masterful opening chapter of a new historical novel series, The Ladies of Haga Manor. Based on thorough research on the lives and fates of real women who lived at the real Haga manor, the ambience of the past is expertly captured and the reader will want to savour every word.

For more Historical Fiction titles in our new catalogue: click here


THE GREEN CHAMBER by Sirpa Kähkönen
A heartfelt story of memories, youth, and searching for the people you’ve lost

  • A Savonia Prize winner!

A touching story set in the winter of 1964 in Kuopio, eastern lake area of Finland. Three teenagers try to navigate life shadowed by the pain inflicted by their parents, who cannot handle life after the trauma of WWII.

Leo, Irene and Jaakko have been friends since childhood, but dropping out of school, going to army, and falling in love have changed the dynamics between the three. A December day lights the spark which sees their lives changed.

Close to the teens and still far away, separated by the years lived and things seen, are the old couple Linnea and Santeri. Having lived through the Revolutions in Russia and both world wars, the couple has found refuge in tending to their flower shop, where Irene also works. Santeri, however, searches for something he lost decades ago in St. Petersburg, and sets out to try and find it once more.


MY ONLY HOME by Hanna Brotherus
The only way to regain control of your body, soul, and life is to be completely and brutally honest

  • No. 1 bestselling Finnish fiction title of 2021 with more than 60,000 copies sold in Finland!

When her children leave their home, a woman wants to take a deep dive into the past. She wants to understand all the lives she has lived, to examine whose eyes she has seen herself through, to see what she still has ahead of her. And she wants to have a fresh start in everything possible.

An uncompromising journey into the truth behind memories begins. All of the old wounds and traumas, some spanning generations, are ripped open and exposed with uncompromising honesty, revealing a life punctured by sorrow, illness, pressures, and death. The gates are wide open when the woman realizes she is the most important person in her life. Her body is her only home.

This heart-rending debut novel by the dancer, director, and choreographer, Hanna Brotherus, moves through a woman’s different life stages without excessive embellishment and in a relatable way. MY ONLY HOME is a fearless autofictive novel about the frenzy for life and the acceptance of incompleteness. Reader feedback emphasizes the moving and striking honesty in the book and how well one can identify with it. The book moves, touches, cleanses and has a profound impact.

PRAISE:

“MY ONLY HOME is a book of crises. It is a confessional novel, and an exceptionally well-written one. [—] Brotherus’ text is as light as that of someone who is jotting down their thoughts in a journal. In fact, MY ONLY HOME is a journal, the journal of Life. It does not embellish. It laughs, grieves, and eventually nurtures its writer.” – Anne Välinoro, Kulttuuritoimitus magazine

For more Literary Fiction titles in our new catalogue: click here


We are so excited for this season!

Team EALA, 
Elina, Toomas, Elsa, Sten-Erik and Linda


We are really happy to represent the bestselling Finnish authors and titles of 2021!

We are really happy to represent the bestselling Finnish titles of 2021!

We are really happy to announce that our authors have written the bestselling Finnish Fiction title of 2021: MY ONLY HOME by Hanna Brotherus, selling over 61 000 copies last year (in all formats), and also the bestselling Finnish Non-Fiction title:  Us & US: Surviving Hollywood with Comedy by Ismo and Angelika Leikola that sold closer to 62 000 copies!

Excellent sales also for bestselling author Miika Nousiainen and his novel FACELIFT, published in 2020, that sold 55 000 copies in 2021.

And amazingly – the New York Times Bestselling Author:  Max Seeck sold 108 000 books in all formats in Finland and Leena Lehtolainen 156 000, both being one of the bestselling Finnish authors in 2021.

Congratulations to everyone!

 

MY ONLY HOME by Hanna Brotherus
Literary Fiction

The only way to regain control of your body, soul, and life is to be completely and brutally honest

When her children leave their home, a woman wants to take a deep dive into the past. She wants to understand all the lives she has lived, to examine whose eyes she has seen herself through, to understand what she still has ahead of her. And she wants to have a fresh start in everything possible.An uncompromising journey into the truth behind memories begins. All of the old wounds and traumas, some spanning generations, are ripped open and exposed with uncompromising honesty, revealing a life punctured by sorrow, illness, pressures, and death. The gates are wide open when the woman realizes she is the most important person in her life. Her body is her only home.This heart-rending debut novel by the dancer, director, and choreographer, Hanna Brotherus, moves through a woman’s different life stages without excessive embellishment and in a relatable way. MY ONLY HOME is a fearless autofictive novel about the frenzy for life and the acceptance of incompleteness. Reader feedback emphasizes the moving and striking honesty in the book and how well one can identify with it. The book moves, touches, cleanses and has a profound impact.

Rights sold: FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)

Download materials here

US&US: SURVIVING HOLLYWOOD WITH COMEDY
by Ismo Leikola and Angelika Leikola
Memories & Biographies

What is Hollywood like for a newcomer from Europe?

A Finnish comedian-writer couple arrives in Los Angeles. Is the city ready for them?

The authors share their personal story of navigating through the Hollywood comedy industry and the American way of life as a freshly arrived writer-comedian couple from a very different society. As they examine this new world and how their old one looks from afar, they end up realizing their life is like an ongoing stand-up bit. And that the line between tragedy and comedy is truly so fine it’s in many ways non-existent.US&Us: Surviving Hollywood with Comedy is the international version of Finland’s #1 bestselling nonfiction title Suo, kuokka ja Hollywood, by the same authors, which was published in Finland in March 2021 and has sold more than 62,000 copies across all formats. Full English text available!

Rights sold: FINLAND: Siltala (orig.)

Download materials here

FACELIFT
by Miika Nousiainen

Commercial/Upmarket, Humor

Tragicomic tale of life’s biggest questions and their surprisingly simple answers.

Sami has a dream: he desperately wants to be a father. His biological clock has been ticking for the past 15 years so loudly that sometimes it’s hard to hear his own thoughts. But it’s not so easy to become a father, first of all, you need to find a suitable future mother candidate.But when Sami’s latest future-mother-candidate rides off with a biker guy, he makes a series of bad choices that cause him to anger the local motorcycle gang. How to fix a life where everything seems to go wrong? Sini, a wellbeing blogger with perfectly instagrammable life arrives to offer a solution.

Rights sold: FINLAND: Otava (orig.), CROATIA: Znanje, CZECHIA: Host, ESTONIA: Eesti Raamat, GERMANY: Kein & Aber, NORWAY: Vigmostad & Bjørke, RUSSIA: Livebook Publishing, SERBIA: Odiseja

Download materials here

THE WITCH HUNTER (A.K.A. FAITHFUL READER)
by Max Seeck
Crime & Suspense

Detective Jessica Niemi is called to investigate a murder case that is out of ordinary. The wife of a famous writer, Roger Koponen, seems to have been killed in a bizarre ritual. As more ritual murders occur, it becomes obvious that Jessica is after a serial killer.
But the murders are not random – they follow a pattern taken from Roger’s bestselling trilogy. Has a fan gone mad, or is this case more personal? How can Jessica stop a criminal who knows every detail of the book even better than the author?

Rights sold: FINLAND: Tammi (orig.), ALBANIA: Muza, ARMENIA: Guitank Publishing, AZERBAIJAN: Alatoran, BULGARIA: EMAS, CROATIA: Fokus, CZECH REPUBLIC: Grada, DENMARK: Gutkind, ESTONIA: Pegasus, FRANCE: Michel Lafon, GERMANY: Bastei Lübbe GmbH & Co. KG, GREECE: Livanis, HUNGARY: Animus, ICELAND: Forlagid, ISRAEL: Tchelet Books/ Steimatzky, ITALY: Edizioni Piemme S.p.a, LATVIA: Latvijas Mediji, LITHUANIA: Baltos lankos, NETHERLANDS & BELGIUM: A.W. Bruna, NORTHERN MACEDONIA: MATICA MAKEDONSKA dooel, NORWAY: Aschehoug, POLAND: Sonia Draga, PORTUGAL: Bertrand Editora Lda, ROMANIA: GRUP MEDIA LITERA, RUSSIA: AST Publishers, SERBIA: Vulkan, SLOVAKIA: Motyl, SLOVENIA: Didakta, SOUTH KOREA: Cheongmirae, SPAIN & LATIN AMERICA: Maeva Ediciones, SWEDEN: Albert Bonniers Förlag, TURKEY: Doğan Kitap , TV: Stampede Ventures, UK: Welbeck Publishing, UKRAINE: Family Leisure Club, USA & CANADA: Berkley / Penguin Random House, WORLD ARABIC: Arab Scientific Publishers, Inc.

Download materials here

THE ICE COVEN (A.K.A. EVIL’S NET)
by Max Seeck
Crime & Suspense

Standalone sequel to New York Times Best Seller, Faithful Reader aka The Witch Hunter – rights sold to 40 countries and Hollywood!Jessica Niemi has another mystery on her hands: Two famous Instagram bloggers go missing, and a strange picture is uploaded
on both of their accounts. It’s a picture of an old lighthouse on a rocky island. And underneath there’s a poem. A poem that describes their deaths…Jessica starts to investigate the disappearances and soon she finds out that the two bloggers have been sharing a secret that got them involved in something very mystical and dark.

Rights sold: FINLAND: Tammi, ALBANIA: Muza, BULGARIA: EMAS, CZECH REPUBLIC: Grada, DENMARK: Gutkind, ESTONIA: Pegasus, FRANCE: Michel Lafon, GERMANY: Bastei Lübbe GmbH & Co. KG, GREECE: Livanis, HUNGARY: Animus, LATVIA: Latvijas Mediji, NETHERLANDS & BELGIUM: A.W. Bruna, NORTHERN MACEDONIA: MATICA MAKEDONSKA, NORWAY: Aschehoug, POLAND: Sonia Draga, PORTUGAL: Bertrand Editora Lda, ROMANIA: Litera, SERBIA: Vulkan, SLOVAKIA: Motýľ, SLOVENIA: Didakta, SWEDEN: Albert Bonniers Förlag, UK: Welbeck Publishing, USA & CANADA: Berkley / Penguin Random House, WORLD ARABIC: Arab Scientific

Download materials here

BAD BLOOD
by Max Seeck
Crime & Suspense

A prominent business executive Eliel Rosenström is found brutally murdered in his home in Helsinki. The company he led has just announced drastic cutbacks and Rosenström gained hundreds of enemies and death threats in the process.But the murder motive become less clear, when the police finds out that the murderer had other targets as well. The only clue the police has is a photo of Rosenström with three other men, whose faces are all scratched off. Who are the faceless men, and why can’t the police identify them? Are they other victims? Or something more sinister?While Jessica Niemi suffers from a mental breakdown after her encounter with the witch coven, Jusuf gets a chance to lead the investigations and prove his skills as a police officer, while helping Jessica battle her demons that seem to come closer and closer…

Rights sold: FINLAND: Tammi (orig.), ARABIC: Arab Scientific Publishers, DENMARK: Gutkind, ESTONIA: Pegasus, GERMANY: Bastei Lübbe, HUNGARY: Animus Kiadó Kft., NORWAY: Aschehoug, UK: Welbeck

Download materials here

THE LYNX FACTOR 
by Leena Lehtolainen

Crime & Suspense

Hilja Ilveskero is hired to a secretive nature holiday center of the super-rich in Eastern Lapland called Ilvesvaara. The owner of the place fears that the worst security threat comes from the inside.

Arriving at Ilvesvaara, Hilja notices that it is not just an ordinary spa hotel, but a luxurious theme park accessible to only eight guests at a time, where wildlife roams freely. Millionaire Aku Rautio is also due to appear soon. Hilja is already familiar with the man, as she has once spent a hectic night with him. When Aku mysteriously disappears, everyone in the resort comes under suspicion, including Hilja. Why doesn’t Aku’s wife want to report the disappearance to the police? Why did so many people in Ilvesvaara know Aku?

Leena Lehtolainen’s fifth Hilja Ilveskero novel is a dense mystery of an enclosed space that shows that even a lavish setting and the latest technology cannot protect people from nature’s unpredictability.

Rights sold: Tammi, GERMANY: Rowohlt

Download materials here


MEMORY OF WATER Feature Film Trailer and Release dates!

We are very excited to share the news that the feature film MEMORY OF WATER based on Emmi Itäranta internationally bestselling novel will be released in Finland in Spring 2022 and internationally in 2022 (exact dates to be announced).

Euro sales firm The Match Factory and Finnish producers Bufo have re-teamed on this dystopian sci-fi thriller Memory Of Water (Veden vartija).

Watch this amazing magical teaser trailer, here in English: https://youtu.be/79PvOl7AFN8

Emmi Itäranta‘s debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) won the Teos Fantasy and Sci-fi Literary Contest in 2011 and earned her the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize for young authors, worth 16.000 euros, in December 2012. She also received the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize in 2013.

World English rights are held by HarperCollins.

The translation rights have been sold to 22 countries, but are still available in Poland, Romania, Netherlands, Albania, Slovakia, Greece, Serbia, Portugal etc.

Download the full English ms for MEMORY OF WATER by clicking here


In Hollywood, Deadline published the news about the coming film and shared the trailer internationally.
Read the full article here:
https://deadline.com/video/the-match-factory-re-teams-with-the-other-side-of-hope-producers-on-eco-thriller-memory-of-water-first-teaser/

ABOUT THE FILM:
Saarela’s (Twisted Roots) film, set in a waterless world of the future, sees a woman follow in her father’s footsteps by becoming her village’s ‘Tea Master’, a position which also sees her inherit a secret truth that has been hidden for a long time. The young woman must wield her quiet strength as a compass along a dangerous journey for her people’s survival.
Memory Of Water is based on Emmi Itäranta’s eco novel, which won accolades such as the 2012 Teos Fantasy and Scif-Fi Literary Fiction Contest, 2012 Kalevi Jäntti Award and 2013 Nuori Aleksis Award and is sold in 22 territories.
Feature film is produced by Misha Jaari and Mark Lwoff (Bufo) and co-produced by Nina Frese and Reinhard Brundig (for Germany’s Pandora Film), Ivo Felt (for Estonia’s Allfilm) and Maria Ekerhovd (for Norway’s Mer Film).
Cast includes Saga Sarkola, Mimosa Willamo, Lauri Tilkanen, Pekka Strang, Minna Haapkylä and Kheba Touray.


ABOUT THE BOOK:

THE MEMORY OF WATER
by Emmi Itäranta
Memory of Water is a story of growing up, of the power of friendship – and, above all, of undying hope in a wrecked world.

Emmi Itäranta‘s debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) won the Teos Fantasy and Sci-fi Literary Contest in 2011 and earned her the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize for young authors, worth 16.000 euros, in December 2012. She also received the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize in 2013.

The story is set in a drought-ravaged, war-ridden future world where fresh water has become the privilege of a few and tea masters have been keepers of natural springs for centuries, Memory of Water tells the story of seventeen-year-old Noria, set to become the next tea master in her village. When her father dies, she finds herself alone with the dangerous responsibility of guarding a hidden spring that can save lives – or provoke people to kill.

As war spreads into her homeland, Noria’s loyalties are torn between keeping her duty and helping her dearest friend Sanja, whose family can barely survive on their water rations. Together the girls unearth knowledge about the past that has remained buried too long and begin to plan a journey to the Lost Lands, forbidden areas that might hold unexplored water resources.

Yet the web of the military is closing in on Noria’s secret. Sanja disappears mysteriously, and Noria is placed under house arrest. Knowing her own life is in danger, Noria must face a choice in order to secure the hidden information for others.

Teemestarin kirja, Teos, September 2012, 266 pp.

Rights sold:

FINLAND: Teos (orig.)

ARABIC: Dar al Muna
BRAZIL: Editora Record Ltda
BULGARIA: Perseus Publishing House
CHINA: Sichuan People’s Publishing House Co., Ltd.
CROATIA: VBZ
CZECH REPUBLIC: Albatros Media a.s./ Plus Publishers
DENMARK: Turbine
ESTONIA: Koolibri Publishers
FRANCE: Presses de la Cite
GEORGIA: Palitra L Publishing
GERMANY: Reihe Hanser
HUNGARY: Metropolis Media Group Kft.
ITALY: Sperling & Kupfer
LATVIA: Jana Rozes Apgads
NORWAY: Gresvik Forlag AS
RUSSIA: TEXT
SPAIN: Ediciones B
SWEDEN: Modernista
WORLD ENGLISH: HarperVoyager

About author


Emmi Itäranta

Emmi Itäranta (b.1976) holds two MA degrees, one in Drama and another in Creative Writing. Her award-winning debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) was published in Finland in 2012 to great accolades, followed by The Weaver (Kudottujen kujien kaupunki) in 2015. Her latest novel The Moonday Letters was published in September 2020.

Itäranta’s writing has been compared to that of Ursula K. Le Guin. Her honours include the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize 2013, the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize 2012 and first place in the Teos Fantasy and Sci-Fi Literary Contest 2011.

Memory of Water has sold to over 25 languages to date, and it has also been nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award recognizing the best science fiction novel published in the UK in 2014, and the Golden Tentacle award. In addition, Itäranta has been included on the Honor List of the Otherwise Award (formerly James Tiptree, Jr. Award). 

Itäranta’s cv is an eclectic mix of writing-related activities, including stints as a columnist, theatre critic, press officer and dramaturge. Her poems, short stories, articles and essays have appeared in anthologies, film magazines and science fiction magazines in the UK and Finland. She now lives in Finland after 14 years in the United Kingdom.

Bibliography


2020, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Moonday Letters

Emmi Itäranta


2015, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Weaver

Emmi Itäranta


2012, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Memory of Water

Emmi Itäranta

THE RED ROOM by Kaj Korkea-aho shortlisted for Runeberg Prize 2022!

We could not be happier to share that THE RED ROOM by Kaj Korkea-aho has now been shortlisted for the prestigious Runeberg Prize 2022!

ABOUT THE BOOK: When a gentleman living alone offers a young author the home of his dreams in exchange for writing a book, the young man finds himself involved in a remarkable game. He begins to write a story that takes the reader to the labyrinth of desire and submission, to the nightlife of 1980s Helsinki, and to the intricate setups of relationships between men – but what is his place in it?

Download the English synopsis and sample by clicking here

ABOUT THE PRIZE:
The Runeberg Prize is open to all Finnish works of fiction. Since 1982, it has been distributed 35 times so far, and in addition to novels, collections of short stories and poems have emerged as winning works.
The winner of the award will be announced on Runeberg Day on February 5, 2022.

JURY PRAISE:

THE RED ROOM  is psychologically skillful and pulsates with drive and strong allure. It depicts a world that for most readers is unfamiliar and hidden.
–             Runeberg Prize Jury on THE RED ROOM


THE RED ROOM
by Kaj Korkea-aho

Lust and power collide in an upscale apartment in the fashionable southern Helsinki. The steep and sturdy Art Nouveau walls have seen decadent parties and cruel games.
At first, it’s just a joke: a newspaper ad in which a young writer promises to write a book in exchange for an affordable apartment. But when a gentleman living alone offers him the home of his dreams, the young man finds himself involved in a remarkable game.
He begins to write a story that takes the reader to the labyrinth of desire and submission, to the nightlife of 1980s Helsinki, and to the intricate setups of relationships between men – but what is his place in it?


Kaj Korkea-aho (b. 1983) is a writer, columnist and a comedian. Moreover, he has a career as an actor and a host in TV and radio. In his varied acting roles, he has often taken a stand for the rights of queer people, and his texts often discuss themes such as growing up, sexual minorities, religious revival communities and literature.

THE RED ROOM
Röda rummet
Förlaget, 2021, 320pp

RIGHTS SOLD:

FINLAND (Swedish): Förlaget (orig.)

FINLAND (Finnish): Otava
SWEDEN: Förlaget

About author


Kaj Korkea-aho

Kaj Korkea-aho (b. 1983) is a writer, columnist and a comedian. Moreover, he has a career as an actor and a host in TV and radio. In his varied acting roles, he has often taken a stand for the rights of queer people, and his texts often discuss themes such as growing up, sexual minorities, religious revival communities and literature.

Korkea-aho has published four novels: Se till mig som liten är (God Who Holds The Little Dear) (2009), Gräset är mörkare på andra sidan (The Grass Is Darker on the Other Side) (2012), Onda boken (The Evil Book) (2015) which has been already translated into six languages and sold to Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, and now - Röda rummet (The Red Room) (2021). His books have attained wide readership in Finland and have scored several prizes, such as the The Swedish Literary Society’s prize in 2010 and 2013, the Thanks for the Book Award in 2016 and the Längmans Cultural Foundation’s prize in 2018. In 2017, Korkea-aho’s YA book Virala genier (Viral Geniuses) was nominated for the prestigious Finlandia Prize for children’s and young adult’s literature.

Since 2005, together with Ted Forsström, Korkea-aho has created comedy in Swedish for radio, TV and plays, whilst also writing the YA series Zoo! (the basis for the TV series Virala genier). Together, they also run the Ted & Kaj podcast, one of the biggest podcasts in Finland.

Kaj Korkea-aho was born and raised in the small town of Esse in Ostrobothnia, but now lives in Helsinki.

Bibliography


2021, Literary Fiction

The Red Room

Kaj Korkea-aho

The Savonia Prize goes to Sirpa Kähkönen for her novel THE GREEN CHAMBER!

We are extremely happy to announce that literary fiction author Sirpa Kähkönen has won the Savonia Prize with her new novel THE GREEN CHAMBER!

The jury concludes:

“In the center of The Green Chamber are three 17-year-old youths coming of age in a world where one must conceal their family’s shame and carry responsibility like an adult. The work flows successfully through time and place, from the 1960s Kuopio to Leningrad, to turn of the century St. Petersburg and Terijoki with an eventual return to Kuopio. The narration of time, place and ambiance are magnificent. In The Green Chamber, Kähkönen’s already gorgeous language is at its pinnacle.”

Sirpa Kähkönen is a Finnish novelist and translator. She has published ten novels of which three have been nominated for the prestigious Finlandia prize and one for the Nordic Council prize. She has authored two books for young adults and a non-fiction bestseller ‘Vihan ja rakkauden liekit (Flames of Love and Hatred) that was nominated for the Tieto Finlandia prize.

Born in Kuopio, Kähkönen studied literature and history at the University of Helsinki before working as an editor. She embarked on her literary career in 1991 with Kuu taskussa (Moon in your Pocket) for young adults, publishing her first adult novel Mustat morsiamet (Black Brides, 1998), which earned her the Savonia award in 1999. Her previous work Graniittimies (Granite Man) is a historical novel depicting the lives of young Finns in Soviet times. Initially writing for young adults, she gained popularity in Finland with her ’Kuopio series’ of historical novels.

Mapping out that silence became Sirpa’s work. The first questions that arose were related to her closest circle: what had happened to her beloved grandparents? From her personal sphere the intellectual curiosity widened to touch upon the history of Finland and onwards to the history of Europe, and finally, doing research on the fate of an individual during times of crisis.


THE GREEN CHAMBER by Sirpa Kähkönen

What follows the crushing of dreams? The powerful story takes us from Kuopio in the 1960s to St. Petersburg in the 1910s.
Irene, a florist, has disappeared before Christmas 1964 when the season is at its peak. The owner is worried by the harsh words he has told the girl. But hyacinths need to be delivered to the clients.

Irene has dropped out of school, Jaakko is a barber assistant. There is chemistry between them. Leo, who has just left the army, is thirsting for love.
Young people are looking for their own place. Why is it easier to conquer Space than to love another person?

Download the full Finnish ms and English synopsis for THE GREEN CHAMBER by clicking here.

The English sample is available in January.

THE GREEN CHAMBER
Vihreä sali, Otava, September, 2021, 315 pp.

RIGHTS SOLD:
FINLAND: Otava

About author


Sirpa Kähkönen

Sirpa Kähkönen was born to a family that had been harshly treated by the history of the 1900s. World War II and the Civil War preceding it, had wounded her family members and marked them with heavy silence and unspoken words.

Mapping out that silence became Sirpa’s work. The first questions that arose were related to her closest circle: what had happened to her beloved grandparents? From her personal sphere the intellectual curiosity widened to touch upon the history of Finland and then the history of Europe, and finally, researching the fate of an individual during times of crisis.

Sirpa Kähkönen lives and works in Helsinki. She constructs her works upon research, using a wide array of archives, newspaper clippings, research material, and contemporary literature. Inspired by microhistorical research tradition, Sirpa writes about how mentalities are formed, and how the immaterial inheritance runs in family lines and in societies.

Sirpa Kähkönen’s historical novel begins where source information ends. It opens the gates to experiencing the past in a sensory way; the characters live out the story as physical, sensual beings.

Sirpa Kähkönen has published twelve novels of which three have been nominated for the prestigious Finlandia prize, one for the Tieto-Finlandia prize for non-fiction and one for the Nordic Council Literature Prize. In 2022, Kähkönen received the Finnish Cultural Foundation's Grand Prize for significant achievements in culture.

Awards and nominations:

Kirjallisuuden valtionpalkinto 1992 - The State Literary Prize 1992

Savonia-palkinto 1999 - Savonia Prize 1999

Kuopion taiteilijaseuran kirjallisuuden tunnustuspalkinto 2003 - The Kuopio Artist Society's Literary Award 2003

Kiitos kirjasta -mitali 2008 - Thank You for the book medallion 2008

Savon Sanomien Savonmuan Hilima -titteli 2010

Otavan kirjasäätiön Veijo Meri -palkinto 2012 - Otava Literary Fund Veijo Meri Prize 2012

Pro-Finlandia -mitali 2015 - Pro Finlandia Medallion 2015

Suomi-palkinto 2016 - Suomi-Finland Prize 2016 from the Ministry of Education and Culture

Savonia-palkinto 2021 - Savonia Prize 2021

Suomen Kulttuurirahaston suurpalkinto - The Finnish Cultural Foundation's Grand Prize 2021

Bibliography


2021, Literary Fiction

The Green Chamber

Sirpa Kähkönen

Czech rights sold for THIS TRANSPARENT HEART by Katja Kallio!

Katja Kallio is a critically acclaimed bestselling author and screenwriter from Finland. Her new, much-anticipated novel THIS TRANSPARENT HEART, tells the forbidden love story of a young Finnish woman and a Soviet POW during WW2.

We are happy to announce that the first international rights for the book have now been sold to Kniha Zlin, imprint of Albatros in the Czech Republic!

Download the English sample and synopsis for THIS TRANSPARENT HEART here

Kniha Zlin is the Czech publisher for of Ingmar Bergman, Truman Capote, Zelda Fitzgerald, JK Rowling, Stanisław Lem, Robert Galbraith, Boris Akunin etc, and an imprint of Albatros Media

CZECH PRAISE:

Katja Kallio is a strong voice of Finnish woman writing and I am happy to have her included in the portfolio of Kniha Zlin. The story of The Transparent Heart captures reader’s attention immediately with its deep insight into a humand mind, riveting plot of forbidden love and expressive poetic language.

– Jitka Hanušová, Kniha Zlin, Albatros Media, Czech Republic

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Young Beata returns home to war-torn Hanko in the winter of 1942. When she accidentally encounters a prisoner of war who sees directly into her innermost being, life changes irreversibly. Forbidden love puts Beata and Ivan at risk for their lives, but they can’t stay apart. In the moment of reckoning, Beata has to ask herself whether one can ever truly know their beloved – or even themselves.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Katja Kallio is a critically acclaimed bestselling author and screenwriter. Since her striking debut on the Finnish literature scene in 2000, she has described the life and faith of misfit women at odds with the community,  in modern and past times, with her distinctive voice and thoroughly visual style. Her new, much anticipated novel This Transparent Heart, publisher in Finnish in August 2021, tells the forbidden love story of a young Finnish woman and a Soviet POW during WW2. Her previous novel, Amanda of the Night, inspired by true events in a mental institution island for women, was received with unanimous praise. Her books have sold more than 180,000 copies.

Kallio is praised for her accurate portrayals of the human mind. In her six novels she revisits themes such as the constant push-and-pull between distance and intimacy in a person’s life and the meaning of passion as a barrier-breaking force.

She has written box office movie adaptations of her own novels, and been a candidate for national literary and motion picture awards, including the prestigious Jussi Award for the Best Screenplay. An ardent cinema lover, she has written about movies in the iconic Image magazine for more than fifteen years.

Before writing she worked as a publishing editor, and translated fiction from Italian, Spanish and English. She hosts her own live literary salon, speaks fluent Italian with a Roman accent, and dedicates her free time to classical ballet.

THIS TRANSPARENT HEART

Tämä läpinäkyvä sydän
Otava, August 2021, 267 pp

Rights sold:

FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
CZECH REPUBLIC: Kniha Zlin/Albatros

About author


Katja Kallio

Katja Kallio is a critically acclaimed bestselling author and screenwriter. Since her striking debut on the Finnish literature scene in 2000, she has described the life and faith of misfit women at odds with the community,  in modern and past times, with her distinctive voice and thoroughly visual style. Her new, much anticipated novel This Transparent Heart, available in Finnish in August 2021, tells the forbidden love story of a young Finnish woman and a Soviet POW during WW2. Her previous novel, Amanda of the Night, inspired by true events in a mental institution island for women, was received with unanimous praise. Her books have sold more than 180,000 copies.

Kallio is praised for her accurate portrayals of the human mind. In her six novels she revisits themes such as the constant push-and-pull between distance and intimacy in a person’s life and the meaning of passion as a barrier-breaking force.

She has written box office movie adaptations of her own novels, and been a candidate for national literary and motion picture awards, including the prestigious Jussi Award for the Best Screenplay. An ardent cinema lover, she has written about movies in the iconic Image magazine for more than fifteen years.

Before writing she worked as a publishing editor, and translated fiction from Italian, Spanish and English. She hosts her own live literary salon, speaks fluent Italian with a Roman accent, and dedicates her free time to classical ballet.

Bibliography


2021, Literary Fiction, Romance

This Transparent Heart

Katja Kallio

Introducing new author Hanna Brotherus and MY ONLY HOME

We are extremely happy to announce our new author Hanna Brotherus! Please join us in welcoming her on board!

Dancer, director and choreographer Hanna Brotherus is without a doubt one of the top names in Finnish contemporary dance. Her work is constantly addressing and probing the prevalent questions of society.

Brotherus is a pioneer in community stage art, with an extraordinary ability to unite different groups of people and collaborators. Her partners have, among others, included the Finnish National Opera, the Helsinki City Theatre, the Tampere Worker’s Theatre TTT and the Finnish National Theatre. In her work, Brotherus has managed to unreservedly involve both cutting-edge artistic professionals, recovering addicts, daycare children, the elderly and many more.

With her debut novel ’My Only Home’, Hanna Brotherus has also redeemed her place as a writer. Her book has become a bestseller with 50.000 copies sold and presently Hanna is working on a new title.MY ONLY HOME is also on the top lists of most listened audiobooks on both Storytel and BookBeat in 2021.

Hanna’s exceptional experience as a performing dance artist also contributes creatively to her writing by offering a corporeal perspective that touches the readers in a unique way.

”My passion is to join together different people from different backgrounds and age groups. I believe in intuition, in the power of the touch and presence”.

Download reading materials for MY ONLY HOME here

 

MY ONLY HOME

When her children leave their home, the woman wants to take a deep dive into the past. She wants to understand all the lives she has lived. She wants to examine whose have been the eyes she has seen herself through, who have been the ones she has yearned to walk beside her, and to understand what she still has ahead of her. And she wants to begin anew anything that is possible.

An uncompromising journey into the truth behind the memories begins. The gates are wide open when the woman realizes that she is the most important person in her life. Her body is her only home.

Hanna Brotherus’ debut novel plumbs through a woman’s different life stages without too much embellishment and in a relatable way.

’My Only Home’ is a fearless auto-fictive novel about the frenzy for life and the acceptance of incompleteness.

In six months, ‘My Only Home’ has already sold more than 50.000 copies and it has been reprinted six times. The reader feedback emphasizes just how moving the striking honesty in the book is and how well one can identify with it. The book moves you, touches you, cleanses you and makes a profound impact on you.

MY ONLY HOME 
Ainoa kotini, WSOY, 2021, 331 pp.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: WSOY


Introducing new author Sirpa Kähkönen and THE GREEN CHAMBER

We are extremely happy to announce our new author Sirpa Kähkönen! Please join us in welcoming her on board.

Sirpa Kähkönen has published ten novels of which three have been nominated for the prestigious Finlandia prize and one for the Nordic Council prize. She has authored two books for young adults and a non-fiction bestseller ‘Vihan ja rakkauden liekit (Flames of Love and Hatred) that was nominated for the Tieto Finlandia prize.

Sirpa Kähkönen is a Finnish novelist and translator. Initially writing for young adults, she gained popularity in Finland with her ’Kuopio series’ of historical novels. Her newest novel THE GREEN CHAMBER is nominated for the prestigious Savonia Prize 2021.

Download reading materials for THE GREEN CHAMBER here

 

Born in Kuopio, Kähkönen studied literature and history at the University of Helsinki, before working as an editor. She embarked on her literary career in 1991 with Kuu taskussa (Moon in your Pocket) for young adults, publishing her first adult novel Mustat morsiamet (Black Brides, 1998), which earned her the Savonia award in 1999. Her previous work Graniittimies (Granite Man) is a historical novel depicting the lives of young Finns in Soviet times.

Sirpa Kähkönen was born to a family that had been harshly treated by the history of the 1900s. World War II – and the Civil War preceding it, had wounded her family members and marked them with heavy silence and unspoken words.

Mapping out that silence became Sirpa’s work. The first questions that arose were related to her closest circle: what had happened to her beloved grandparents? From her personal sphere the intellectual curiosity widened to touch upon the history of Finland and onwards to the history of Europe, and finally, doing research on the fate of an individual during times of crisis.

Sirpa Kähkönen lives and works in Helsinki. She constructs her works upon research, using a wide array of archives, newspaper clippings, research material, and contemporary literature. Inspired by the microhistorical research tradition, Sirpa writes about how mentalities are formed, and how the abstract legacy runs in family lines and in societies.

Sirpa Kähkönen’s historical novel begins where source information ends. It opens the gates to experiencing the past in a sensory way; the characters live out the story as physical, sensual beings.

 


THE GREEN CHAMBER

’The Green Chamber” is a novel about youth that is shadowed by the ghost of WWII. In the beginning of the 1960s, young people are carrying the weight of their parents’ war experience that has been veiled behind obmutescence and hence is so difficult to open and unravel into anything else than the language of emotional reactions.

As their parents are exhausted from the post-war world of reconstruction, three young people, Irene, Leo and Jaakko are searching for their ways into a carefree reality in which Beatles is playing in the jukebox and where gleaming aluminum Sputniks slice through black winterskies.

’The Green Chamber” is also a novel about being young in the tumultuous, revolutionary early days of the 1900s and the First World War and many civil wars in Europe. It tells the story of two young people meeting on the pine growing high ramparts of the Finnish Gulf, in the villa community of Terijoki which was nick-named ‘Terry’ by the English spirited aristocracy of the time. When Santeri and Linnea meet, the Russian revolution had plunged the princes and the princesses into poverty and desolated the grand villas, making the young couple set their only faith on raising flowers and cherishing friendships.

In December 1964, in Kuopio, in the eastern lake area of Finland, it’s the time of harsh days of frost when the lake freezes moaningly in the grip of the cold. This is when the three young protagonists Irene, Leo and Jaakko solve the painful secrets of budding love and friendship and the ageing couple Linnea and Santeri tend to their flower shop Paradise Lily like a secret, living green core.

In the core of ‘The Green Chamber’, as if in the deepest crannies of a tree, is a tale of an old man’s trip to Leningrad. He has sworn hatred towards the bolshevics ever since his dreams in youth were crushed in the Russian revolution. But in the beginning of 1964, something has broken within him and he is ready to face the repercussions of this fracture as he meets a young blonde girl. He follows her to Leningrad although he’s sworn he’d never set his foot on the pavement of the Leningrad of his youth before the bolshevics have been expelled from it. This journey will become the most important one of his life.

‘The Green Chamber’ is a depiction of the ferocious beauty of the North, of frost, the sandridges formed by Ice Age on which people build their fading fantasies of paradise. ‘The Green Chamber’ plays the tunes of nature like a wild symphony. It is a symbolic story of the deep power of the forests that appear as a safe harbor, an enchantment, and a metaphysical escape for the people of this novel. This is a novel about wars and rebellions that cast human beings around like driftwood and finally, tell the story of why, even on the last beach, the best deed of a human being is to plant a tree.

THE GREEN CHAMBER
Vihreä sali, Otava, 2021, 315 pp.

Rights sold:
FINLAND,Otava


Excellent French praise for Laura Lindstedt’s MON AMIE NATALIA

We are extremely happy to share some excellent praise from France for one of Finland’s most dynamic novelists, Laura Lindstedt and her novel Mon Amie Natalia – My Friend Nataliaan erotic story of an ambitious therapist’s sessions with an unforgettable patient.

“Laura Lindstedt has written a very successful second novel that takes us into the heart of a therapy.” “A fascinating and original text.” “A text that asks real questions about female sexuality and the place of women in society.” – Maria Ferragu, Page

“Irreverent, caustic, original, full of artistic references”
– Virginie Bloch-Lainé, Libération

”Little by little this strange psychotherapy is bearing its fruit. Natalia liberates herself…/… Through it, the author analyzes the stereotypes of the caregiver and the patient, the balance of power and the stereotypes of gender and identity with impertinence and subtlety.” – Jean-Paul Gavard-Perret, Salon Litteraire

Download the full English manuscript and praise sheet for MY FRIEND NATALIA by clicking here

PRAISE

“Sly, intriguing…. The deeper, indeed more layered, mystery is, it emerges, the novel’s chimerical narrator.” – Hermione Hoby, New York Times Book Review

“Lindstedt’s novel reads like the love child of a pornographer and a high theorist: Derrida meets Anaïs Nin…/ Bawdy and beguiling.” – Kirkus Reviews

“This novel is about the subtle division of power. The one who has the words has the power. And the great storyteller in this setting is Natalia. The therapy sessions are a celebration of literature and art (think Niki de Saint Phalle, Georgia O’Keeffe, but also the tragedies of Greek mythology). Natalia plays an intellectual game about the appropriation of stories.” –Het Parool, Netherlands

WATCH LAURA DESCRIBE THE CREATIVE PROCESS BEHIND HER NOVEL

MY FRIEND NATALIA
by Laura Lindstedt

Natalia cannot stop thinking about sex. A mesmerizing tale of one woman’s potent affliction by award-winning Finnish writer Laura Lindstedt. Narrated by an unnamed, ungendered therapist who leaps at the chance to employ their most experimental methods, My Friend Natalia offers a gripping examination of the power dynamics always present but rarely ever spoken about in therapy. “Something flared within me,” the therapist notes, “and it wasn’t merely sympathy, the emotion I feel for most of my clients. It was more like a sudden experience of harmony, wholly inappropriate given the circumstances.”

Rights sold:

FINLAND: Teos (orig.)
ESTONIA: Rahva Raamat AS
FRANCE: Gallimard
GERMANY: DTV
HUNGARY: Scolar Kiado
ITALY: Elliot Edizioni
LITHUANIA: BALTO
NETHERLANDS & BELGIUM: De Bezige Bij
NORWAY: Oktober
ROMANIA: Humanitas Fiction
SWEDEN: Norstedts
USA: W.W. Norton / Liveright

About author


Laura Lindstedt

Laura Lindstedt (b. 1976) became a critical darling with her adoption-themed debut novel Scissors (Sakset, Teos 2007), which earned her a nomination for the Finlandia Prize, the country’s most prestigious literary honour. She is currently revising her Ph.D. thesis on French author Nathalie Sarraute. Lindstedt’s second novel Oneiron (Teos 2015) is a work of speculative fiction that takes place in the mysterious moments that follow one’s death. Oneiron has continued Lindstedt’s critical success, earning her the coveted 2015 Finlandia Prize. Lindstedt’s latest novel My Friend Natalia has been a critical success and the rights have been sold to 12 territories.

Bibliography


2019, Literary Fiction

My Friend Natalia

Laura Lindstedt


2015, Literary Fiction

Oneiron

Laura Lindstedt


2007, Literary Fiction

Scissors

Laura Lindstedt

19th territory for Mia Kankimäki’s THE WOMEN I THINK ABOUT AT NIGHT!

We are very happy to announce that Hungarian publisher Kossuth has now acquired rights to Mia Kankimäki’s internationally bestselling travelogue/biography THE WOMEN I THINK ABOUT AT NIGHT. 

Mia Kankimäki’s second book THE WOMEN I THINK ABOUT AT NIGHT has sold over 45 000 copies in all formats in Finland and the translation rights have been sold to 19 territories, including USA and China. The book was recently published in France, Sweden and Italy and has had an excellent critical reception worldwide.

 Download the Full English manuscript

THE WOMEN I THINK ABOUT AT NIGHT was named as one of The Independent’s ”Best Travel Books of Year 2021″:

“Packed with emotions, this book is like reading a travelogue, feminist’s manifesto and a self-help guide in one.”

THE WOMEN I THINK ABOUT AT NIGHT
by Mia Kankimäki

Mia Kankimäki leaves her job, sells her apartment and travels to Africa to see where Karen Blixen – the Danish author, baroness and coffee farmer – lived in the 1920s. She goes to Japan in search of a cure for her depression, and to research Yayoi Kusama, the world-renowned artist, and around the world in the footsteps of 19th century women explorers. In Italy, she spends days looking for forgotten Renaissance women painters of the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. If these women could make it in the world hundreds of years ago, why couldn’t she?

The Women I Think About At Night is part travelogue and part biography: in clear prose Kankimäki writes about the lost women adventurers of history – perfect reading for adult fans of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, and anyone who’s ever wanted to travel to all the places they’ve ever read about.

PRAISE:

“Enlightening…A patchwork study of the many hurdles women artists faced—and still face.” —Kirkus Reviews

“The stories are complicated and inspiring, and Kankimäki’s experience unwinding each one to help understand her own life reminds us of the power of using travel for self-discovery.” —Travel + Leisure

“Complicated and engaging … Through each chapter, you’ll learn about women who went against the grain and set out on personal adventures to unapologetically live their lives with passion and fervor. You’ll read about a woman who ran a coffee plantation in Kenya; a travel writer who suffered from depression until she took the advice of a doctor to explore the high seas; a Buddhist nun who became the first white woman to enter Lhasa, a forbidden city in the mid 1920’s; an inventor who traveled around the world with just a handbag; and many more. —Forbes

“Astute, entertaining….This insightful book will appeal to adventure enthusiasts and be an inspiration for those with an eye on hitting their stride later in life.” —Publishers Weekly

Rights sold:

FINLAND: Otava (orig.)

ALBANIA: Muza
CHINA: Winshare Books Co., Ltd.
CZECH REPUBLIC: Albatros Media / Motto
DENMARK: Bilgrav
ESTONIA: Varrak
FRANCE: Editions Leduc
GERMANY: btb Verlag/Random House
HUNGARY: Kossuth
ITALY: Neri Pozza Editore
JAPAN: Soshisha
LATVIA: Zvaigzne
LITHUANIA: Gelmes Publishing
NETHERLANDS: Orlando
NORWAY: Gursli Berg Forlag
RUSSIA: Eksmo
SLOVENIA: Didakta
SWEDEN: Wahlström & Widstrand
USA: Simon & Schuster (World English)

About author


Mia Kankimäki

Mia Kankimäki is the author of two best-selling books which blend travelogue, memoir, biography and women’s history. After taking a master’s degree in comparative literature at the University of Helsinki and working diligently in Finnish publishing, in 2010 she left her job and traveled to Japan to write her first book. Her books have received several literary awards, for example the Best Travel Book of the year 2013, the HelMet Award 2015, and Otava Book Foundation’s Non Fiction Award 2020. She currently lives in Helsinki, Finland, whenever she’s not traveling for her next book project.

Mia has been enthusiastic about Japanese culture for years, and is a qualified ikebana teacher of the Sogetsu school. Her first book Things That Make One’s Hear Beat Faster took her to Kyoto where she has spent long periods of writing and making research ever since. Kankimäki’s second book The Women I Think About at Night has sold over 54,000 copies in Finland and the translation rights have been sold to 20 territories, including USA and China.

Mia's both books have been aqcuired by Japanese publisher Soshisha:

"I am delighted to share that Mia Kankimäki’s debut title, THINGS THAT MAKE ONE’S HEART BEAT FASTER, is embraced and loved by many Japanese readers. A cross between an autobiography and a travelogue, the author finds an emotional connection with a woman geographically far apart and from a different era and tries to discover who she really was. I believe this style is reflected in THE WOMEN I THINK ABOUT AT NIGHT as well. Though some of the female figures in this second book might not be well-known locally, I am looking forward to seeing how our readers will react to their lifestyles." - Daisuke Watanabe, Editor, Soshisha

Bibliography


2018, General Nonfiction, Narrative Nonfiction

The Women I Think About At Night

Mia Kankimäki


2013, General Nonfiction, Narrative Nonfiction

Things That Make One's Heart Beat Faster

Mia Kankimäki

TOP 8 Bestselling Nordic Fiction titles this Frankfurt Season!

As the Frankfurt Book Fair is now in progress, it’s a great possibility to take a look at our bestselling Fiction titles in this season – see if you have missed something!


TOP 8 Fiction titles:

1. Martta Kaukonen – FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY
8 rights sold since August!

Ida, 20, a serial killer who was abducted as a child, starts therapy with celebrity therapist Clarissa. Only one of them knows that they share a mutual secret from the past. Will the other one realize it before she gets murdered?

Rights still available in Russia, Denmark, Sweden, US, Norway, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, Turkey, France, Netherlands etc.

Read more here.


2.-3.  Emmi Itäranta – MOONDAY LETTERS
4 rights sold since August!

Lumi is an Earth-born healer whose Mars-born spouse Sol disappears unexpectedly on a work trip. As Lumi begins her quest to find Sol, she delves gradually deeper into Sol’s secrets – and her own.

Rights still available in Estonia, Russia, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Latvia, France, Netherlands etc.

Read more here.


 

2.-3 Martta Kaukonen – Sequel to FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY
4 rights sold since August!

Rights still available in Russia, Denmark, Sweden, US, Norway, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, Turkey, France, Netherlands etc.


4.-5. Elina Backman – STILL WATERS RUN DEEP 
3 rights sold since August!

Three young men are making a documentary film about a mystical hermit, living in the Isle of Sheep in Helsinki. First one of them disappears, then another one. When one of them is found dead in the nearby nature reserve, the police becomes involved.

Rights still available in Denmark, US, Turkey, France, Latvia, Korea, Iceland, Bulgaria, UK, Spain, Japan, Greece, Serbia etc.

Read more here.


4.-5. Minna Lindgren  – DEATH IN SUNSET GROVE 
3 rights sold since August!
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.

Rights still available in Russia, Norway, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Albania, Bulgaria, Netherlands, Korea etc.
Read more here.


6.-8 Elina Backman – ALL THE KING’S MEN 
2 rights sold since August!
Saana has been fired from her job as a click-bait journalist, so she decides to spend a summer with her aunt in a small-town Hartola. It sounds like a perfect opportunity to take it easy and recover. But when Saana begins to dig into a case of a teenage girl who died 30 years earlier, the peace of the small town is shaken.

Rights still available in Denmark, US, Turkey, France, Latvia, Korea, Iceland, Bulgaria, UK, Spain, Japan, Greece, Serbia etc.
Read more here.


6.-8 Ann-Luise Bertell – HOMESTEAD
2 rights sold since August!

When Elof is ten years old, his father dies, leaving him and his little brother Ivar alone at the mercy of their relatives. Fear becomes their companion throughout life – a companion who can only be disciplined by the joy of storytelling, alcohol and women.
This intense family chronicle asks the question; what is the price you have to pay, if you never get to be yourself?

Rights still available in Russia, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Czechia, Romania, Turkey etc.

Read more here.


6.-8 Johanna Sinisalo – THE STORM FLUTE
2 rights sold since August!

A merchant named Jonah, living in Assyria 600 years before the common era, gets caught in a storm. Is the storm a curse from God, or is it his own doing? In Finland in the 2010’s, Leena Lind loves her job as a meteorologist, but the activities of an aggressive finance company have her wasting her expertise at menial tasks. When her daughter Leia plays a game that involves making a video of a thunderstorm, Leena’s life is blown irretrievably off track and soon no one is safe anymore.

Rights still available in Estonia, Russia, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Lithuania, Poland, Czechia, Romania, Turkey, Netherlands etc.

Read more here.

PS! Don’t forget about FILI grants!

Do you have a perfect Finnish literature project in mind but would need some support for the translation costs?

We are happy to let you know that FILI translation grant application period started on October 1st and ends on November 1st! The grant can cover up to 70% of your Finnish/Finland-Swedish translation project.

Last period, over 100 projects were awarded a grant! Read more from: https://fili.fi/…/finnish-literature-into-other-languages/


Now 5 languages for HOMESTEAD! Azerbaijani rights sold to Alatoran!

We are extremely happy to announce that Azerbaijani rights for Ann-Luise Bertell’s epic literary fiction title HOMESTEAD have been acquired by Alatoran!

Alatoran is also the Azerbaijani publisher for Sergey Dovlatov, Stefan Zveig, Jürgen Habermas, Arthur Conan Doyle, Margaret Atwood and Maria Turtschaninoff.
Ann-Luise Bertell’s epic novel HOMESTEAD was published in 2020 and has already been acquired in Georgia and Estonia and was nominated for both Finlandia Prize and Runeberg Prize 2020.

Download the English sample and synopsis for HOMESTEAD here

 

Ann-Luise Bertell’s HOMESTEAD talks about how love and trauma are passed on from one generation to another. This intense family chronicle asks the question; what is the price you have to pay, if you never get to be yourself? Ann-Luise Bertell writes an epic tale with a great drive, crystallized in scenes with strong sensual sensations, full of rich emotions.


Ann-Luise Bertell in an author and a theater director, born 1971 in Oravais, Finland. She has gratuated from Finnish Theater Academy, and debuted as a writer in 1997 with the collection of poems, ‘Rus av gul’, and has since written poems, short stories, a children’s book, plays and two novels. Turn around my longing (Vänd om min längtan, 2016), was awarded the Yle Prize and the Choreus Prize. Her second novel Homestead (Heiman) was published in 2020 and was nominated for the Finlandia Prize.

Ann-Luise has been Wasa Theatre’s director since 2020, but also a mother of three, dog owner, hiker, seeker, spy and bookworm.

 

HOMESTEAD 
Heiman
Förlaget, 2020, 381pp

RIGHTS SOLD:

FINLAND (in Swedish): Förlaget (orig.)

AZERBAIJAN: Alatoran
ESTONIA: Eesti Raamat
FINLAND (in Finnish): Tammi
GEORGIA: Merebashvilitykesson
SWEDEN: Förlaget

 

About author


Ann-Luise Bertell

Ann-Luise Bertell is an author and a theater director, born 1971 in Oravais, Finland. She has graduated from the Finnish Theater Academy, and debuted as a writer in 1997 with the collection of poems, 'Rus av gul', and has since written poems, short stories, a children's book, plays and two novels. Longing (Vänd om min längtan, 2016), was awarded the Yle Prize and the Choreus Prize. Her second novel Homestead (Heiman) was published in 2020 and was nominated for the Finlandia Prize, and her third novel Yearning (Glöm Bort Din Saknad) was published 2022.

Ann-Luise has been Wasa Theatre's director since 2020, but is also a mother of three, dog owner, hiker, seeker, spy and bookworm.

Bibliography


2022, Literary Fiction

Yearning

Ann-Luise Bertell


2020, Literary Fiction

Homestead

Ann-Luise Bertell


2016, Literary Fiction

Longing

Ann-Luise Bertell

Introducing new award-winning author Juha Itkonen

We are extremely happy to announce our new author Juha Itkonen! Please join us in welcoming Juha Itkonen on board.

Juha Itkonen (b. 1975) is one of his generation’s most recognized authors in Finland. Itkonen has written eight novels, a collection of novellas, a children’s book, an epistolary novel together with Kjell Westö and several plays. His works have been translated into Swedish, Norwegian, German, and Danish. His previous work “Everything Is A Miracle” (Ihmettä kaikki, Otava, 2018) was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize 2020.

Itkonen has won several Finnish literary prizes and earned two Finlandia Prize nominations. He lives in Helsinki’s Arabianranta together with his wife Maija Itkonen and four children. Families, generations, and parenthood are regular themes in his novels, including in his newest work ‘Everything Was Theirs’ (Kaikki oli heidän, Otava 2021). Itkonen loves music, both as a listener and a player, which shows in his books. The passing of time is an eternal mystery at the core of his writing – his novels tend to have a melancholy undertow, yet they are also filled with life, humor, and energy.

EVERYTHING WAS THEIRS by Juha Itkonen

A poignant and frenzied novel about the masculine ego and the end of the world that inspects people’s capability to love, yet also the inability to nurture the happiness that one has gained.

Vilho’s father Ilmari, a forty-something theater director, is according to his own view balancing successfully between the push-and-pull of career and family life. However, the tranquil peace of the wooden house is upset when his widowed grandfather temporarily moves to live with the four-member family. Thirty years later, in a wholly changed world, the lived life of the early 2000s and the choices made then appear in a new, harsh light. Where did their days disappear?

EXCERPT:
“Especially during these times, everyone desired so much from both their lives and the world – desired everything. No one wanted to admit it, but all of them were about to crash into a wall.”

PRAISE:
”Itkonen develops a balanced and fascinating story of men in three generations that succeeds in being timely yet timeless.”
“The plot grips you, the language is pure satin, and the characters feel evocative.” – Etelä-Suomen Sanomat

Request for materials from here

 

 

EVERYTHING WAS THEIRS
Kaikki oli heidän, Otava, September, 2021
397 pp.

RIGHTS SOLD:
FINLAND: Otava

READING MATERIAL:
Finnish PDF
English sample and synopsis
(available in the end of October)

 

About author


Juha Itkonen

Juha Itkonen (b. 1975) is one of his generation’s most recognized authors in Finland. Itkonen has written eight novels, a collection of novellas, a children’s book, an epistolary novel together with Kjell Westö and several plays. In 2019, his works have been translated into Swedish, Norwegian, German, and Danish. His previous work Ihmettä kaikki (in English, “Everything Is A Miracle”, not translated) was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize. Itkonen has won several Finnish literary prizes and earned two Finlandia Prize nominations. He lives in Helsinki’s Arabianranta together with his wife Maija Itkonen and four children.

Families, generations, and parenthood are regular themes in his novels, including in his newest work 'They Had It All' (Kaikki oli heidän, orig. Otava 2021) Itkonen loves music, both as a listener and a player, which shows in his books. The passing of time is an eternal mystery at the core of his writing – his novels tend to have a melancholy undertone, yet they are also filled with life, humor, and energy.

Bibliography


2021, Literary Fiction, Commercial/Upmarket

They Had It All

Juha Itkonen

Miika Nousiainen’s FACELIFT has now been published in Germany to amazing reviews!

We are delighted to announce that Kein & Aber has now published the German edition of Miika Nousiainen’s bestselling novel FACELIFT aka QUALITY TIME to very exciting reviews!

The surprising and funny rom-com with a male lead has now sold over 95 000 copies in all formats in Finland and has already 8 publishers around the World.

The rights are still available in the US, UK, Denmark, Sweden, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania, France, Netherlands, Latvia, etc

Download the English sample and synopsis here.

EXCELLENT GERMAN REVIEWS FOR FACELIFT:

“Bestselling Finnish author Miika Nousiainen presents average guys. The fact that they speak frankly, as if into a diary, brings them close to us – also thanks to their sarcasm.”
– Hansruedi Kugler, Aargauer Zeitung, 21 August 2021

“A master of human depths and shallows […].
Quirky books, casual and, of course, full of Finnish mockery.
With all this verve and all this wit […] it’s more than a feel-good novel for me, this is really a great reckoning with what is expected of us and he does that very fast-paced and very funny.”

– Elke Schlinsog, Deutschlandfunk Kultur, 4 September 2021

“One can’t stop laughing […]!”
– Barbara Weitzel, WELT am Sonntag kompakt, 5 September 2021

“I am very happy that Miika Nousiainen has again published such a burlesque, very spirited novel.”
-Annemarie Stoltenberg, NDR Kultur, 31 August 2021

“Light as a feather and spirited.”
-Annemarie Stoltenberg, NDR Kultur Neue Bücher, 7 September 2021

“Amusing, touching without being sentimental, suspenseful and funny.”
– Sabine Gartmann, Osterholzer Kreisblatt, 20 August 2021

“Enjoyably written Finnish bestseller that provokes reflection.”
– Hörzu, August 2021

“Fun and philosophical.”
-Nina Berendonk, Donna, August 2021

“Miika Nousiainen’s book Quality Time skillfully plays with an overused term and, at the same time, offers an immensely entertaining reinterpretation.”
-General Anzeiger, August 14, 2021

“Delightfully silly and crazy!”
-Buchhandlung Eichwalde, Märkische Allgemeine, August 4, 2021

“Miika Nousiainen manages with humor and a flair for unbelievable developments that everything is nevertheless really good in the end.
A turbulent feel-good novel that has to be recommended, not only in our current, equally chaotic times.”

-Bad Aachen Magazin, August 2021

“Quality Time is a reflection of life with all its phases, everyday problems, ups, downs and imponderables – and an appeal for a conscious living together and a meaningful use of the time one has on earth. Great read, absolutely recommended!”
– Frank Rehag, Finnland-Tour.de, July 28, 2021

FACELIFT
By Miika Nousiainen

Sami has a dream: he desperately wants to be a father. His biological clock has been ticking for the past 15 years so loudly that sometimes it’s hard to hear his own thoughts. But it’s not so easy to become a father, first of all, you need to find a suitable future mother candidate.

But when Sami’s latest future-mother-candidate rides off with a biker guy, he makes a series of bad choices that cause him to anger the local motorcycle gang. How to fix a life where everything seems to go wrong? Sini, a wellbeing blogger with perfectly instagrammable life arrives to offer a solution.

FACELIFT
Pintaremontti
Otava, 2020, 365 pp.
Rights sold:

FINLAND: Otava (orig.)

CROATIA: Znanje
CZECHIA: Host
ESTONIA: Eesti Raamat
GERMANY: Kein & Aber
NORWAY: Vigmostad & Bjørke
RUSSIA: Livebook Publishing
SERBIA: Odiseja

Reading material
English sample
German edition

About author


Miika Nousiainen

Miika Nousiainen writes sharp, gentle and often tragicomical novels about surprising themes like long-distance running, the desire to be Swedish, and dentistry. He works as a journalist and writes also for television.

Bibliography


2020, Commercial/Upmarket, Humor

Facelift

Miika Nousiainen


2016, Humor

Roots

Miika Nousiainen


2007, Humor

Raspberry Boat Refugee

Miika Nousiainen

4th territory for Ann-Luise Bertell’s HOMESTEAD!

We are so happy to announce that Estonian rights for  Ann-Luise Bertell’s HOMESTEAD have been acquired by Eesti Raamat!

Eesti Raamat is one of the most important publishing houses in Estonia, having published over 900 literary titles.
They are also Estonian publishers for Thomas Mann, Kjell Westö, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Herman Melville, Sigrid Undset, Selma Lagerlöf, Gustave Flaubert etc.

The book was published in Swedish in Finland and Sweden by Förlaget and in Finland in Finnish by Tammi. Previously, the Georgian rights have been acquired by Merebashvilitykesson.

HOMESTEAD is a detailed and insightful story of four generations and what it means to be human, set in the heart of the Finnish Osthrobothian plains.

Nominated for Finlandia Prize 2020 and Runeberg Prize 2020

When Elof is ten years old, his father dies, leaving him and his little brother Ivar alone at the mercy of their relatives. Fear becomes their companion throughout life – a companion who can only be disciplined by the joy of storytelling, alcohol and women. Elof knows that he is a bit of a coward, but has learned that he must never show fear, especially not in front of others and never to his wife Olga, whom he never really gets close to. Pride is the most important thing to Elof, as is their homestead, Heiman, which is all the family has ever truly owned.

Homestead talks about how love and trauma are passed on from one generation to another. This intense family chronicle asks the question; what is the price you have to pay, if you never get to be yourself? Ann-Luise Bertell writes an epic tale with a great drive, crystallized in scenes with strong sensual sensations, full of rich emotions.

Read more here

Download the English sample and synopsis for HOMESTEAD here

HOMESTEAD 
Heiman
Förlaget, 2020, 381pp

RIGHTS SOLD:

FINLAND (in Swedish): Förlaget (orig.)

ESTONIA: Eesti Raamat
FINLAND (in Finnish): Tammi
GEORGIA: Merebashvilitykesson
SWEDEN: Förlaget

About author


Ann-Luise Bertell

Ann-Luise Bertell is an author and a theater director, born 1971 in Oravais, Finland. She has graduated from the Finnish Theater Academy, and debuted as a writer in 1997 with the collection of poems, 'Rus av gul', and has since written poems, short stories, a children's book, plays and two novels. Longing (Vänd om min längtan, 2016), was awarded the Yle Prize and the Choreus Prize. Her second novel Homestead (Heiman) was published in 2020 and was nominated for the Finlandia Prize, and her third novel Yearning (Glöm Bort Din Saknad) was published 2022.

Ann-Luise has been Wasa Theatre's director since 2020, but is also a mother of three, dog owner, hiker, seeker, spy and bookworm.

Bibliography


2022, Literary Fiction

Yearning

Ann-Luise Bertell


2020, Literary Fiction

Homestead

Ann-Luise Bertell


2016, Literary Fiction

Longing

Ann-Luise Bertell

Estonian rights acquired for Saara Turunen’s IRRATIONAL THINGS

We are extremely happy to announce that Estonian rights for Saara Turunen’s IRRATIONAL THINGS  have been acquired by Eesti Raamat!

Eesti Raamat is one of the most important publishing houses in Estonia, having published over 900 literary titles.

They are also Estonian publishers for Thomas Mann, Kjell Westö, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Herman Melville, Sigrid Undset, Selma Lagerlöf, Gustave Flaubert etc.


Saara Turunen’s IRRATIONAL THINGS discusses not only love but also writing about it. Is love a suitable subject to deal with if you want to be taken seriously? And what is love really? Is it comparable to the class system, a way of controlling property and heritage, or something else, something difficult to explain but unavoidable, for all of us to deal with at some point of our lives.

The narrator of the book, a nameless woman, travels to Barcelona. She meets a foreign man and falls in love with him. The man is the total opposite of her in many ways. Where she has been brought up to exert control, to plan and to master her life, he is sort of a free soul. He doesn’t want to worry about tomorrow; rather, he just drifts freely, taking things as they come.

Read more here

Download the English materials for IRRATIONAL THINGS here.

IRRATIONAL THINGS
Järjettömiä asioita
Tammi, March 2021, 270pp

RIGHTS SOLD:

FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)

ESTONIA: Eesti Raamat
LITHUANIA: BALTO

About author


Saara Turunen

Saara Turunen is an internationally acclaimed award-winning author, playwright and director. Much of her work examines the themes of art, identity and social norms. Turunen is known for her three highly acclaimed novels - Irrational Things (2021), The Bystander (2018) and Love/Monster (2015), but also for her work in theatre. Her plays have been translated into 15 languages and performed all around the world. Turunen was awarded with the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize in 2015, with the Finland Prize in 2016, with the City of Helsinki’s The Artist of the Year Award in 2018 and with the Lea-Prize in 2020, all high-profile awards given in Finland.

Her latest novel Irrational Things (2021) became an immediate bestseller and a critical darling. It has already sold over 20,000 copies in Finland.

Bibliography


2021, Literary Fiction

Irrational Things

Saara Turunen