101 Ways to Kill Your Husband and Skeleton among the most beautiful books of 2022

Each year, the Finnish Book Art Committee selects the most beautiful books published in Finland during the previous year. One title is awarded as the Year’s Most Beautiful Book, and others, organised according to their categories, receive honorary mentions.

We are happy to share that two books from HLA’s list have been selected among the year’s most beautiful books. 101 Ways to Kill Your Husband, written by the author duo Laura Lindstedt & Sinikka Vuola, received an honorary mention in the fiction category, and Skeleton, written by Malin Klingenberg and illustrated by Maria Sann, was among the selected in the category of children’s & YA books.

101 Ways to Kill Your Husband (2022)

101 Ways to Kill Your Husband is an Oulipo-inspired murder mystery, published in 2022 by Siltala. The title is a result of experimentations with form and language, as well as strong interest in feminist issues – themes that have been a high priority for both authors throughout their respective careers. A literary piece of sheer joy and fascination for readers, writers and translators alike, 101 Ways… has definitely caught the attention of the Finnish and foreign audiences alike.

The French rights have been sold to Gallimard; moreover, our Literature from Finland podcast episode EXPERIMENT, where authors discussed the title, has been among the most popular this season!

The book begins with a real-life story: in October 1981, Anja B. from Finland took a shotgun to her Norwegian husband Thorvald’s chest and fired. He died immediately. On the 5th of May 1983 history was made as the District Court of Oslo not only released her from the murder charges but found her late husband guilty because of the physical abuse he had inflicted on her for years.

In the title, the case has shapeshifted to 101 variations, written using different methods and various narrative styles that are in turn witty, surprising, touching, skilful, or garnished with a dose of gallows humour.

Skeleton (2023)

Skeleton is a new picture book by the beloved children’s author Malin Klingenberg, who made her name abroad with her successful and cheeky book The Secret Life of Farts (2019).

Skeleton, on its part, is a tenderly told story about a child overcoming his fears while learning what each of us is made of.

When a host of a costume party shows up as a skeleton, Teo cannot think of anything scarier. But when Teo trips over and breaks a bone, it turns out, he too, has a skeleton inside him! He is frightened, but quickly learns that sometimes, parts of us break and need to be fixed with a cast.

Congratulations to all the authors and their book designers!