The most internationally successful Finnish debut of all times receives exceptional attention in the English-speaking world.
Iida Turpeinen’s Beasts of the Sea (S&S 2023) has been chosen as the December 2025 book of the month for Stephen Colbert’s Late Show. The Late Show is one of the talk shows of highest standing in the US. Previous book of the month picks include Samantha Harvey’s Orbital, and Ian McEwan’s What We Can Know. Beasts of the Sea is presented to the live audience and the audience at home throughout the month, and the program culminates in an interview of the author.
The English translation of the book was published in the UK in October 2025 (MacLehose Press) and in the US in November 2025 (Little, Brown). The translation is penned by David Hackston.
This historical novel about the extinct marine mammal Steller’s sea cow has also been noticed on other media platforms across the US. The book was the cover story of the industry magazine Publisher’s Weekly in September 2025, and it is listed among the most-waited literary releases on the Goodreads platform, the Chicago Review of Books journal, The Globe and Mail magazine, the Library Journal and the The Millions literature blog, among others.
In the UK The Guardian published a long interview with the author and The Times has chosen the book as part of its most-waited historical novels list.
The novel has already been published in 18 languages. Its translation rights were acquired globally by large publishing houses with fierce competition on a scale never seen before for a Finnish book and the rights are already sold to 28 language areas. Of the other translations the French edition (Flammarion/Autrement, 2024, translated by Sébastien Cagnoli) was nominated for the best foreign book of the year (Les premières sélections du prix du meilleur livre étranger) and the Italian edition (Neri Pozza, 2024, translated by Nicola Rainò) was shortlisted for the largest literary award in the country, the Premio Strega.
More information:
Urte Liepuoniute, senior literary agent | urte@helsinkiagency.fi | +358 44 244 3996