Young princess Leona is expected by her parents to marry a prince and save the kingdom – but Leona is having none of it. She takes a hike and jumps from one fairytale to the next in order to save herself from the age-old burdens that lurk around every corner such as marriage and household chores. A refreshing take on princess tales proves that one can have both self-respect and empathy for others.
Straarup & Co. is a Danish publishing house that publishes books for both children and adults. They have previously acquired the Karin Erlandsson’s novels Home and Night Express and Eva Frantz’sMystery of Helmersbruk Manor from HLA’s list.
The Princess Who Did a Runner is not yet published in Finland, and we are very excited for this great start. Congratulations to the authors!
While publishers around the world keep complaining about the tough times they are experiencing, Ukrainians, as always, just get to the action – and make an offer for two books on HLA’s list!
Astrolabe, a beautiful Ukrainian publishing house, established in Lviv in 2000, has just acquired the rights for Before the Birds, a novel by Merja Mäki, recounting a family’s experiences during the evacuation journey from war-ridden Karelia, and Apogee, a sci-fi thriller by the EU Prize for Literature winner Piia Leino.
Astrolabe publishes literature of various genres, including fiction, poetry, books on philosophy, psychology, history, political science, law, economics, arts etc. The publisher also prides itself in contributing to Ukrainian culture by releasing new translations of medieval and early modern literature, such as The Song of Roland, the Divine Comedy by Dante, the first Ukrainian translations of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer and an Old English epic Beowulf, among others. It is also the publisher of Piia Leino’s novel Heaven (2018).
Before the Birds (2022)
Before the Birds (Gummerus, 2022) was an instant commercial and critical success in Finland, selling over 10,000 copies and becoming a #1 Bestselling Audiobook immediately after the publication. This is the first foreign rights sale for the novel.
In the winter of 1939, much of Finland’s eastern province Karelia was ceded to the Soviet Union, which becomes the setting for the novel. The main protagonist, a young woman called Alli, is suddenly forced to leave her Karelian home behind and embark on an onerous trek across Finland, in order to find a new home.
Not only must she now endure the strenuous evacuation, but also face an unexpected, life-changing responsibility, come to terms with the complicated relationship with her own mother, and somehow, continue to dream.
“Mäki does such a vivid job leading the reader on the evacuees’ journey that one feels one is there oneself, freezing and feet covered in bloody blisters. […] The novel expands my understanding of what it means – and how it feels – to leave everything behind.” – Helsingin Sanomat newspaper
Apogee (2021)
Apogee (S&S, 2021) is set in the year 2045, when the earth’s march toward ecological catastrophe has continued, and the environmental movement is radicalizing.
When the owner of a chain of clothing stores dies in a freak smart-device accident, the police do not initially suspect a crime. However, journalist Aaro Kangas is assigned to look into the potential radicalization of an ecological community at Oak Valley, and unwittingly ends up at the heart of an ambitious plan for annihilation. The investigation quickly turns incredibly personal – and incredibly dangerous.
Foreign rights of Apogee have also been sold to Bulgaria and Hungary.
“A seamlessly written, fast-paced novel that combines crime mystery with dystopian visions of the near future.” – Helsingin sanomat newspaper
Congratulations to both authors, and most importantly – SLAVA UKRAINI!
Kari Hotakainen’s The Disciple, published on 24th August 2022, rose immediately to #2 on the Finnish bestseller list of August. Hotakainen has a long record of hitting the top ten with his novels, with the novel Story topping the list in 2020, and the biography The Unknown Kimi Räikkönen selling over 200,000 copies in Finland and over 100,000 abroad.
The Disciple is a ferocious novel about social exclusion, revenge, and the search for connection. It follows Maria who over the course of three days settles accounts in a fierce way that forces the reader to think about the meaning of life, the problems inherent in a middle-class lifestyle, and the part we play as individuals on the final precipice of an era.
“The rhetorical blades of Disciple strike with precision, and a dark, laconic humor sustains the work.” – Helsingin Sanomat newspaper
“Hotakainen understands the most interesting thing about revenge is not the reason someone seeks it, its justification. What’s essential is that the revenge-seeker at least momentarily take control of the situation, act on her own terms. Communication is a major value in contemporary society, but those seeking vengeance have lost faith in its redemptive power. Disciple is a statement that has no interest in turning into a conversation – this is one of the remarkable things about it. Although the book is primarily constructed of Maria’s monologues, the text never feels heavy. The end is solid. This may be the best Hotakainen I’ve ever read, or at least the most pugnacious.” – Suomen Kuvalehti magazine
Happy news for one of the highlights on HLA’s list: novel Matara by Matias Riikonen has now been sold to Karl Rauch Verlag in Germany.
Karl Rauch Verlag is a literary house that prouds itself for publishing classics such as Don Quijote and The Little Prince in German, as well as modern fiction of high literary quality.
This is the fourth foreign rights deal for the novel, which has previously been sold France, Hungary and Denmark.
Matara (2021)
Matara is a story about boys’ games gone an inch too seriously. In the novel, boys of a summer camp spend their days in the realm they have built: the Republic of Matara. It has a law, a societal structure, plotting for power and bonds between citizens, as any real state. Under the guidance of his older brother, a young boy trains to be a scout. While spying, the pair come upon an enemy camp: war is at hand.
Wonderful news in the nonfiction department: Nostalgia – Theory and Practice by Antto Vihma received the State Award for Public Information, one of the most important accolades for nonfiction in Finland.
The jury stated about the work:
Antto Vihma. Photo: Miikka Pirinen
“In his book Nostalgia – Theory and Practice, Antto Vihma introduces to us modern nostalgia in the Western context. All the way through the history of this phenomenon, the author goes on to explore the connection between present day populism and nostalgia using four recent textbook examples: Brexit; the German AfD party; Donald Trump; as well as the Finnish “True Finns” party. (…)
Vihma doesn’t give in to straightforward and simplified solutions and helps the reader realise just how enchanting and appealing nostalgia is, and how it can be used as a fuel for achieving various goals. At the same time, the author, for example, offers an extraordinary explanation to the question that so many have pondered for years: why some of us are susceptible to conspiracy theories than others? (…)
Nostalgia (2021)
The book encourages thoughts that stay with the reader for a long time after closing the book and become recognisable in different situations, proving that nostalgia is everywhere.”
The State Award for Public Information has been given out yearly since 1968. The number of recipients varies every year and nominations are primarily given to fiction and nonfiction books, radio and TV programmes and newspapers articles that had the most significant contribution to the information publication during the previous year. The amount of each award is 15,000 euros, except for the lifelong award (20,000 euros).
