Author: Susanna Hast
Finnish original: Toivottomuus
Publisher: S&S, 2025
Genre: fiction
Number of pages: 268 pp.
Reading material: Finnish original
A poignant novel about maternal rejection.
An adult daughter lies in an empty bathtub. She has called her mother to wish her a happy Mother’s Day. Their relationship is like a competition in which the winner never shows that she needs the other. By calling, the daughter has admitted defeat. During the call, the mother has got her daughter to lower her guard, only to drop a verbal bomb that drives her into self-doubt and paranoia. The door to the unconscious swings open and remains ajar. The daughter embarks on a dangerous journey to her hometown, where a devastating disease has destroyed the social order. The knife donated by the university comes in handy when a human has become their own self.
Hopelessness dives deep into the subconscious and shows the institution of family and the concepts that hold it together – inheritance, gift, father, mother – in a merciless light. The work approaches the internal violence of intimate relationships, the necessity of separation and the horror of duality. It is a novel that stings from beginning to end.
“A stunning and powerful novel that goes beyond language.”
– Reader, Why literary blog
About the author
Susanna Hast