The incredibly popular historical romance trilogy, Cotton Mill, written by Ann-Christin Antell, has already sold over 100,000 copies in Finland altogether! The third part of the trilogy, Rival to the Cotton Mill, was published at the end of February and immediately rose to the top of bestselling Finnish fiction.
Antell’s publisher in Finland is Gummerus.
The Shadow of the Cotton Mill (2021) 
Heir to the Cotton Mill (2022) 
Rival to the Cotton Mill (2023)
Ann-Christin Antell, who works as a librarian, is happy that readers have found the Cotton Mill books where strong female characters at the end of 19th and the beginning of the 20th century put a lot of work and effort for a more egalitarian Finland.
“The progress of equality is an important theme in this series. I have heard that, thanks to these books, many have rediscovered the joy of reading after years of not having even touched a book. An immigrant in Finland has told me that the Cotton Mill books are easy to read, and so by reading them, they have been learning both the Finnish language and history. All this feedback warms my heart to no ends”, Antell says.
The trilogy has done well internationally, too: foreign rights have been sold to Iceland, Sweden, Denmark and France.
Don’t forget to check out our Literature from Finland podcast episode TIMES, where Antell discussed writing successful historical fiction.