Film rights optioned by SOLAR FILMS for internationally bestselling THE STORY OF AINO AND ALVAR AALTO!

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Solar Films Inc. Oy has optioned the Film & TV rights for Heikki Aalto-Alanen’s unique, internationally bestselling THE STORY OF AINO AND ALVAR AALTO! This is the love story of the world-famous, pioneering design couple Aino and Alvar Aalto, written by the Aaltos’ grandson and based on Aino and Alvar Aalto’s previously unpublished correspondence, photography, and drawings from 1921 to 1949. The book has been published in Japan, Italy, Hungary, Estonia, and in English and French by Phaidon Press, the world’s most prestigious art publisher. This deal was closed by Elina Ahlbäck at the Ahlback Agency.

With great enthusiasm and respect, we set out to develop a love story about the union between Aino and Alvar, two passionate artists, but very different people.
– Jukke Helle, managing director at Solar Films

Alvar and Aino Aalto are internationally celebrated for their architecture, furniture, glassware, and other interior design, but their personal lives have been relatively unknown – until now. This book, written by the Aaltos’ grandson, stands apart from countless other works on the Aalto’s lives and careers. It contains photos, sketches, and personal letters between Aino and Alvar, beautifully illustrating how inseparable this couple was both in work and love, and bringing a deeply human element to their story.

International Praise:

This characteristically elegant Phaidon publication, lush with images, is remarkably personal … A beautiful and important contribution to architecture and design history.
– Booklist, Starred Review

A love story, enriched not just by personal photographs and images of their modernist designs, but by the couple’s letters to each other.
– NPR.org

Unique … Such an intimate level of access is possible thanks to the fact that the author is a grandson and has done much to preserve the designers’ legacy.
– Interior Design

A poignant glimpse into [Aino and Alvar’s] deep bond.
– Metropolis

Rights still available in Germany, Scandinavian territories, Holland…

The Story of Aino and Alvar Aalto
Heikki Aalto-Alanen

Orig. publication:
RAKASTAN SINUSSA IHMISTÄ
Aino ja Alvar Aallon tarina
Otava, September 2021, 450 pp.
Approx. 50-80 photographs & drawings

Reading material:
English & French editions
Italian edition

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.), ESTONIA: Postimees, FRANCE: Phaidon Press, HUNGARY: Európa Könyvkiadó, ITALY: Salani, JAPAN: Soshisha, WORLD ENGLISH: Phaidon Press

About author


Heikki Aalto-Alanen

Heikki Aalto-Alanen is the grandson of architects Aino and Alvar Aalto, who has previously served as vice chairman of the Alvar Aalto Foundation, been a member of Artek’s Board of Directors, member of the Alvar Aalto Academy Board, and held other positions maintaining Aino and Alvar Aalto’s artistic work and heritage. Today he is serving as the chairman of the Paimio Sanatorium Foundation, established in 2020 to preserve Aino and Alvar Aalto's early masterpiece. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Alvar and Aino Aalto Estate Ltd. Heikki Aalto-Alanen is a lawyer by profession and has worked in the Nordic financial market.

His book tells the story of Aino and Alvar Aalto, depicted through their previously unpublished correspondence from 1921-1949, photographs and drawings.

Bibliography


2021, General Nonfiction, Memories & Biographies

The Story of Aino and Alvar Aalto

Heikki Aalto-Alanen

Film & TV News: V Street Media has optioned Katja Pantzar’s THE FINNISH WAY for screen adaptation

We are absolutely thrilled to announce exciting film & tv news following the breaking news that Finland has been voted the Happiest Country in the World for the 7th time in a row:

Vancouver-based V Street Media has optioned Katja Pantzar’s THE FINNISH WAY (Penguin Random House US) for screen adaptation. THE FINNISH WAY is a bestselling non-fiction book revealing the secrets of Finnish Happiness:  an engaging practical guide to living a healthier, happier life through movement, winter swimming, nature, diet, and Sisu.  The deal was negotiated by V Street’s John Dippong and Elina Ahlback of Elina Ahlback Agency. Congratulations, Katja!

“Having grown up in Vancouver, I am absolutely thrilled that the fabulous John Dippong, a film industry expert and social advocate, has optioned The Finnish Way for screen!”  – says Katja Pantzar.

THE FINNISH WAY:  Finding Courage, Wellness, and Happiness through the Power of Sisu has been translated into 24 languages and published in the US by Penguin Random House.

Katja Pantzar is also the author of EVERYDAY SISU: Tapping into Finnish Fortitude for a Happier, More Resilient Life which was also published in English by TarcherPerigee Penguin Random House.

She is currently finishing THE POWER OF HOT AND COLD: From Sauna to Sea: The Finnish Way to a Happy, Healthy Life, together with her co-author Carita Harju. The book will be published in English by Yellow Kite / Hodder & Stoughton (orig.) in November 2024.

Download the English edition for THE FINNISH WAY here!

Download the English edition for EVERYDAY SISU here!

Download the full English text for THE POWER OF HOT AND COLD here!

THE FINNISH WAY: Finding Courage, Wellness, and Happiness through the Power of Sisu
Hodder & Stoughton (UK); TarcherPerigee (US), 2018, 320pp

Rights sold:
BULGARIA: SKY PRINT 04 Ltd
CHINA: Yeeyan Publishing
CZECH REPUBLIC: Mlada Fronta
ESTONIA: Rahva Raamat
FINLAND: Siltala Publishing
FRANCE: Belfond
GERMANY: Bastei Lübbe GmbH & Co. KG
HUNGARY: Jaffa Publishing Ltd.
INDONESIA: Gramedia Pustaka Utama
ITALY: Marsilio
JAPAN: Hojosha
LITHUANIA: BALTO
NETHERLANDS: Kosmos Uitgevers
POLAND: Jagiellonian University Press
PORTUGAL: Marcador
RUSSIA: AST Publishers
SLOVAKIA: Vydavatelstvo Motyl
SPAIN: Roca Juvenil
TAIWAN: My House
THAILAND: Openbooks Thailand
TURKEY: Mona Kitap
UNITED KINGDOM: Hodder & Stoughton
UNITED STATES: TarcherPerigee, Penguin Random House
VIETNAM: Omega

Film & TV: V Street Media

Reading materials:
English edition

About author


Katja Pantzar

Katja Pantzar –  Katja Pantzar is a Helsinki-based writer and journalist who swims in the Baltic Sea year round. Raised in Canada, with stints in New Zealand and England, she is the author of The Finnish Way (Penguin Random House/2018), a bestselling non-fiction book about Nordic well-being, winter swimming and sisu (resilience) that has been translated into 24 languages. Her second book on sisu, Everyday Sisu: Tapping into Finnish Fortitude for a Happier, More Resilient Life (Penguin Random House/2022) explores through expert interviews and research-based information how we can better support our mental and physical health while taking care of each other and our planet. Everyday Sisu has also been published in Japanese, Thai, and Indonesian. Pantzar’s work has been widely covered around the world in media ranging from Le Figaro, Le Monde, and El Paísto Vogue the Washington Post and the New York Review of Books. . She is also the author of three mini-guides to the Finnish capital, including 100 things to do in Helsinki (Siltala/2024).

Bibliography


2018, Personal Growth & Lifestyle

Finnish Way

Katja Pantzar

SOLAR FILMS acquires Film & TV Rights to MILO by Glass Key Award winner and NYT bestselling author Max Seeck!

The auction for Film & TV rights of MILO, the forthcoming crime novel by NYT bestselling author Max Seeck, has been closed and the winner is SOLAR FILMS Inc. Oy.  Solar Films will adapt MILO to an international TV-series for global distribution, with development starting in 2024 for a planned release in 2025.The deal was negotiated by Elina Ahlbäck at the Ahlback Agency.
Max Seeck and Ahlback Agency are absolutely thrilled about this collaboration!

Rights to MILO have been sold pre-publication to Bastei Lübbe in Germany, to Aschehoug in Norway and to Mera Éditions in France – with more offers expected! In Finland, MILO (orig. title Merkitty) will be published in July 2024 by Tammi Publishers. Congratulations, Max and Solar Films, and all Max Seeck publishers!

Join the global success of MILO now!

Download the materials for MILO here!

Solar Films CEO Jukka Helle said:
”The development and writing process for the series begins in 2024 with the real production starting in 2025 the earliest. The timing will naturally become clearer as the project progresses. We at Solar are very happy to continue our cooperation with Max.”

Our CEO & Founder Elina Ahlbäck said:
Max Seeck has created a totally unique and universal world, ready to the silver screen, and I can only admire his wild, visual imagination and exceptional talent! Milo, a criminal profiler and art gallery owner who struggles with sexual frustration, tries to form a clear picture of the killer. A body of a young woman is found painted in all-white representing a piece of chess, with more chess moves and bodies on the way. Milo needs to understand the game of chess better in order to catch the killer.”

 

Milo (working title)

Max Seeck

New independent crime novel by the New York Times Bestselling and Spiegel Bestselling Author Max Seeck, winner of the Glass Key Award 2023!

MILO is a psychological suspense novel with surprising twists and interesting facts about the game of chess. It’s also a story of complex human relationships, sex and issues people are facing when they approach the middle-age. The novel also covers a lot of art and other cultural references, maintaining the erotic vibe that stems from Milo’s and Ronja’s sexual adventures.

Milo, a 38-year-old art enthusiast, gallery owner and criminal profiler struggles with sexual frustration that are both the cause and consequence for his marital problems. A body of a young woman is found painted in all-white representing a piece of chess. The chief inspector receives an anonymous letter with a short message: dxe5. This indicates a chess move and along the location where the body was found the investigators feel that more chess moves might be on the way. Milo struggles to form a clear picture of the killer. He soon understands that in order to help the police force to catch the killer he needs to understand the game of chess better. As much as he hates it, he decides to face the ghost of the past: her mother’s former partner Stanislav who happens to be a European champion in chess…

Orig. publication
Merkitty
Tammi, July 2024

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)
FRANCE: Mera Éditions
GERMANY: Bastei Lübbe
NORWAY: Aschehoug
FILM & TV rights: Solar Films

Reading materials:
English sample and synopsis
Finnish manuscript in Spring 2024

About author


Max Seeck, New York Times Best Selling Author

Max Seeck - New York Times Bestselling Author of THE WITCH HUNTER.

Winner of the prestigious Glass Key Award 2023 for his novel THE LAST GRUDGE.

“Another star has been added to the firmament of thriller writers,” announced Iltalehti newspaper, when Max’s debut novel was published in 2016. Four books later, Max Seeck’s novels have been sold to more than 40 countries, including US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries and as far as Korea!

His Jessica Niemi series landed him on the New York Times Bestseller list! 2024 will see the release of his independent novel MILO, which is already creating buzz internationally with several rights pre-empts ahead of the Finnish publication!

Max Seeck has a background in sales and marketing, and has lately been able to dedicate his time to his lifelong love of writing. His interests include well-conducted research, reading Nordic Noir and listening to movie soundtracks as he writes.

Bibliography


2024, Crime & Suspense

Milo

Max Seeck


2022, Crime & Suspense

Ghost Island

Max Seeck


2021, Crime & Suspense

The Last Grudge

Max Seeck


2020, Crime & Suspense

The Ice Coven

Max Seeck


2019, Crime & Suspense

The Witch Hunter

Max Seeck


2018, Crime & Suspense

The Mephisto Touch

Max Seeck


2018, Crime & Suspense

The Call of Hades

Max Seeck


2016, Crime & Suspense

Angels of Hammurabi

Max Seeck

Legendary Tobis TV has acquired the TV & Film rights to Martta Kaukonen’s THERAPIERT aka FOLLOW TO BUTTERFLY!

German series production company Legendary Tobis TV has acquired the rights to Martta Kaukonen’s internationally bestselling, exceptional thriller debut THERAPIERT aka FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY and will develop it into a German language series.  

We are very excited to start working on THERAPIERT by Martta Kaukonen, which is one of the most thrilling debuts of this year. With its strong female characters and surprising twists, it is perfect for a series adaption”, says Isabel Hund, CEO of Legendary Tobis.

The offers have been coming in from abroad since FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY was published in 2021. Now, a production company  Legendary Tobis that understands my novel the way I intended, even between the lines, has been found. I feel as if my protagonist, the 20-year-old serial killer Ida, has finally found her way home.
– Martta Kaukonen, Author

Legendary Tobis TV is a Joint Venture between leading German producer-distributor Tobis and the Los Angeles based Legendary Entertainment. The Munich based company was founded in 2022 and focuses on high-end scripted series and mini-series driven by local stories and talent.

Martta Kaukonen’s internationally bestselling psychological thriller FOLLOW THE BUTTERLY has been sold to 15 territories and is creating buzz wherever published, recently in Germany, Poland, Greece, Denmark etc. Heyne Verlag in Germany published THERAPIERT in February 2023 and it hit the Spiegel Bestseller list, has sold more than 24,000 copies, and has received multiple starred reviews! UK & US publisher Pushkin Press will launch FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY in March 2024. Book 2: RETURN OF THE BUTTERLY will be published in Finland in December 2023 by WSOY.

Rights to this unique international bestseller are still available e.g. in France, Spain, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, etc.

English and German editions are available!

Download the materials for FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY here!

TERAPIASSA
WSOY, March 2021, 471 pp.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)
CROATIA: Znanje
CZECHIA: Albatros Media
DENMARK: Forlaget Falco
ESTONIA: Hea Lugu
GERMANY: Heyne (2-book-deal)
GREECE: Psichogios (2-book-deal)
HUNGARY: Partvonal Kiadó (2-book-deal)
LATVIA: Jumava
LITHUANIA: Obuolys
POLAND: Czarna Owca (2-book-deal)
UNITED KINGDOM: Pushkin Press (2-book-deal)
UNITED STATES: Pushkin Press (2-book-deal)
WORLD ARABIC: Al Arabi Publishing
WORLD ENGLISH (Audio): Audible
FILM & TV RIGHTS: Legendary Tobis TV

Reading materials: English edition, German edition

About author


Martta Kaukonen

Martta Kaukonen (1976) lives in Helsinki. Before becoming a full-time author, she worked as a film critic, whose reviews have been published in both Finland’s biggest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat and a popular women’s weekly magazine Me Naiset. Martta has a master’s degree in arts. She has interviewed the likes of Robert Downey Jr. and Justin Bieber. Martta met her husband at his second hand bookshop and fell in love. Alongside writing, Martta loves psychological thrillers, film noir, flea markets, abandoned houses and travelling. Martta’s debut novel FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY was published in March 2021. FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY is an Instagram sensation in Finland, and the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper released a highly-praising review of it. During the first two months, the audiobook was listened to an awe-inspiring 2000 times and over. FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY  has been compared to Gillian Flynn’s novel ‘Gone Girl’. 

Bibliography


2023, Crime & Suspense

Meet Me in the Darkness

Martta Kaukonen


2022, Crime & Suspense

In Your Shadow

Martta Kaukonen


2021, Crime & Suspense

Follow the Butterfly

Martta Kaukonen

Putin’s Trolls inspires international TV series!

We are thrilled to let you know that production company Onerva Pictures, whose feature documentary “Brainwashed” is listed among DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILMS ELIGIBLE FOR 95TH OSCARS®, is developing a TV Series “KOMPROMAT” (8 x 54´) as an European co-production, inspired by Jessikka Aro’s international bestseller PUTIN’S TROLLS. Producers are from Germany, Kathrin Lohmann (K+J Entertainment), from Norway, Gudny Hummelvoll (Hummelfilm) and Finland, Tanja Rusi (Onerva Pictures).

Here is the series pitch from Onerva’s website:

The international spy game has new, daring players: citizen spies. KOMPROMAT – The Truth is Under Attack (working title) is a tense psychological thriller set in the Nordics, Europe and the UK, on the frontlines of Putin’s Information War against the West. The series follows a Finnish investigative journalist who risks her life as she uncovers and exposes cases of Russian active measures in the Nordics, Eastern Europe and beyond. 

The TV series will further contribute to the success story of PUTIN’S TROLLS, which has been sold to a total of 16 territories!

The rights are still available in Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, France, Spain, Egypt, Greece, etc. – now is the time to snap them up! 

Download the materials for PUTIN’S TROLLS HERE!

Putinin trollit
Tositarinoita Venäjän infosodan rintamilta
Johnny Kniga, November 2019, 453 pp.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Johnny Kniga/WSOY (orig.)
ALBANIA: Muza
BULGARIA: Ciela Norma
CZECH REPUBLIC: Denik N
ESTONIA: Menu Meedia/Stratkom
GEORGIA: Media Development Foundation
GERMANY (Print and e-book): Goldmann Verlag
GERMANY (Audiobook): Sound Neverrest
HUNGARY: Corvina
LATVIA: Pētergailis
LITHUANIA: Briedis
NORWAY: Mangschou Forlag
POLAND: Sine Qua Non
ROMANIA: Lebada Neagra
SWEDEN: Sensor Förlag
WORLD ENGLISH: Ig Publishing
WORLD ENGLISH (Audio): Blackstone Audio
TV & FILM: Onerva Pictures

Reading materials: English edition

About author


Jessikka Aro

Jessikka Aro is an award-winning reporter with Yle, the Finnish Broadcasting Company, specializing in Russia, extremism and information warfare. In 2014 and 2015, she published a series of articles on pro-Kremlin social media trolls and their influence outside of Russia’s borders. Due to her investigations, Jessikka became the target of a severe and still ongoing international propaganda and hate speech campaign, which she recounts in Putin’s Trolls.

In 2019, the US State Department awarded Jessikka the International Women of Courage Award, but the award was mysteriously rescinded by the Trump administration, allegedly due to her social media criticism of then President Trump. On December 1, 2020, Jessikka Aro received the International Women’s Media Foundation Courage in Journalism Award, presented in partnership with the Washington Post and hosted by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. Jessikka was recognized for her award-winning investigative reporting of Russian information warfare. Jessikka lives in Helsinki, Finland.

Bibliography


2019, General Nonfiction, Narrative Nonfiction, History & Politics

Putin's Trolls

Jessikka Aro

Film option sold for Kaj Korkea-aho’s THE RED ROOM!

We are thrilled to report Aurora Studios have acquired the film option for THE RED ROOM by Kaj Korkea-aho!

From the Finnish publisher FORLAGET’S press release:

Kaj Korkea-aho’s novel THE RED ROOM (Röda Rummet) could become a movie. A production company has bought the film option to the story. “One of the most unique stories I have read in a long time”, says the actor Edvin Endre, who is the initiator of the project.

“Kaj’s book is one of the most unique stories I’ve read in a long time. I think I finished the book in 2-3 days because it was impossible to put it down. I am so incredibly happy that Kaj has put his trust in me and in Aurora Studios to develop his fantastic dark story of passion into a movie”, says actor Edvin Endre, who is also the initiator of the adaptation. Right now, he can be seen in, amongst other things, the Netflix dramaseries The Playlist, which is about how Spotify was created, where he plays Daniel Ek who founded the company. He also stars as Snufkin in the English version of Gutsy’s Moomin animation series.

Endre can’t tell anything about the schedule about THE RED ROOM other than that it will take time.

“Our focus is 100% on making a fantastically good adaptation that does the book justice but also works well for feature film formats.”

Author Kaj Korkea-aho, how does it feel that your novel might be turned into a movie?
“It’s great when your book sparks the creativity of others! And I think THE RED ROOM would do brilliantly as a movie. The book is very much about complicated internal processes and states. The whims of sexuality, the landscape of ecstasy, submissiveness, dominance. It was difficult to write about, and on film it will require smart directing solutions and talented actors. But I believe in the people working on the project, their visions have been impressive.”

He says what was special here was that the spark came from a young and talented actor in Stockholm who accidentally read the book and became so personally involved in the story that he wanted to buy the film option.

“Within a few days, he had engaged producers and started developing the manuscript. His passion and belief in the book’s film potential has been amazing to witness.”

THE RED ROOM is Kaj Korkea-aho’s contemporary novel about power dynamics and desires, about selling one’s art, one’s property and oneself. Lust and power, guilt and borrowing, are included in the game about an expensive apartment in southern Helsinki, whose thick walls hide both decadent parties and refined ecstasy. The story not only changes one’s view of the real estate jungle in Helsinki, it changes one’s way of looking at the world.

The book was published in autumn 2021 and nominated for the Runeberg Prize in the same year and for the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 2022.

Elina Ahlbäck Literary Agency represents Kaj Korkea-aho and has negotiated the film option agreement with Aurora Studios.

 

Download the English sample and full Swedish text for THE RED ROOM here!

RÖDA RUMMET / THE RED ROOM
Förlaget, August 2021, 408pp
Rights sold: FINLAND: Förlaget (orig. Finland-Swedish); FINLAND: Otava (Finnish); SWEDEN: Förlaget, TV & FILM RIGHTS: Aurora Studios

Reading materials: English sample, Swedish edition, synopsis, praise sheet

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


2024, Literary Fiction

How We Met Your Mother

Kaj Korkea-aho


2021, Literary Fiction

The Red Room

Kaj Korkea-aho

Minna Lindgren’s SUNSET GROVE series goes to production in 2023!

We are thrilled to report as highlighted in Variety that the TV series SUNSET GROVE, based on Minna Lindgren’s bestselling series and produced together with Fire Monkey for streaming service Elisa Viihde Viaplay, is rapidly progressing!

Aurora Studios is developing “Sunset Grove” with Elisa Viihde described as “feel-good crime story.” The shooting will start in September 2023, with three seasons planned. The comedy thriller, pitched at the last Mipcom, is written by Mikko Pöllä (White Wall, Black Widows). Through eight episodes, made in co-production with Fire Monkey, “Sunset Grove” will follow three elderly ladies from different backgrounds as they settle in a retirement home where “growing old is the least of your problems.” Aurora Studios’ producer promises a different take in the show that will combine “Miss Marple” and “Golden Girls”.

The Sunset Grove -trilogy’s books Death in Sunset Grove, Escape from Sunset Grove, and End of Sunset Grove have sold in 17 languages – and keep selling, with the latest deal to Hungary!
Rights are still free in The Netherlands, Japan, Thailand, Norway, Poland etc. 

Join the family of Minna Lindgren’s happy foreign publishers and enjoy Minna Lindgren’s heart-warming humor and cosy crime novels – meet these amazing 90’s ladies solving mysteries like Miss Marple!

Download the full English PDFs for the SUNSET GROVE trilogy here!

 

Death in Sunset Grove

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 – 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.

 

Escape from Sunset Grove

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.

 

The End of Sunset Grove

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.

Kuolema Ehtoolehdossa
Teos, November 2013, 305 pp.

Rights sold: FINLAND: Teos, 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, TV & FILM RIGHTS: Aurora Studios

Reading materials: English edition

 

Ehtoolehdon pakolaiset
Teos, November 2014, 256 pp.

Rights sold: FINLAND: Teos, 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, TV & FILM RIGHTS: Aurora Studios

Reading materials: English edition

 

Ehtoolehdon tuho
Teos, November 2015, 289 pp.

Rights sold: FINLAND: Teos, 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, TV & FILM RIGHTS: Aurora Studios

Reading materials: English edition

 

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 18 territories, and the final part, The End of Sunset Grove, was nominated for the International Dublin Literature Award in 2019. She has also written four standalone novels and a non-fiction book about the history of opera.

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

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Memory Of Water International Film News

Memory of Water-movie in international screening

We are thrilled to share wonderful news: MEMORY OF WATER-movie directed by Saara Saarela will get its international film distribution in several countries, first in Germany and Italy early next year. Before that the film will compete for the grand prize at the Trieste Film Festival in November 2022.The film has been applauded as the best Finnish science fiction film and is based on Emmi Itäranta’celebrated and internationally bestselling book Memory of Water, sold in 24 territories and counting.  The film gets its first international premier in Germany at the Hof International Film Festival in October 2022.

At Trieste Festival, Memory of Water will take part of the Méliès d’Argent (Silver Mélies) competition. Every year, the European Fantasy Film Festival Association awards the Méliès d’Or (Golden Méliès) to the best European feature and short horror or fantasy film.Memory of Water-movie will be in cinema screening in Germany and Italy early 2023. In Germany the movie will be distributed by Real Fiction and in Italy by Blue Swan EntertainmentThe Match Factory will be responsible for the film’s international distribution. In Finland, the film premiered in September. It is produced by Bufo and written by Ilja Rautsi. 

The English teaser trailer for MEMORY OF WATER
Download the English PDF for MEMORY OF WATER here

Memory of Water

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: Record
BULGARIA: Perseus
CHINA: Sichuan People’s Publishing House
CROATIA: VBZ
CZECH REPUBLIC: Albatros Media/Plus
DENMARK: Turbine
ESTONIA: Koolibri
FRANCE: Place des Editeurs
GEORGIA: Palitra L Publishing
GERMANY: DTV/Reihe Hanser
HUNGARY: Metropolis Media
ITALY: Piemme/ Sperling & Kupfer
JAPAN: Nishimura Shoten
KOREA: The Book in My Life
LATVIA: Janis Roze
LITHUANIA: Nieko Rimto
NORWAY: Gresvik Forlag
RUSSIA: Text Publishers
SERBIA: Heliks
SPAIN: Ediciones B.
SWEDEN: Modernista
TURKEY: Dogan Egmont
WORLD ENGLISH: HarperCollins/HarperVoyager

FILM & TV RIGHTS: Bufo