Books from Finland - A literary journal of writing from and about Finland.

A selection of the best novels from this autumn’s harvest, hand-picked by the FILI staff. Here’s what the critics said: More…

Veijo Baltzar. - Photo: Eva Persson

Veijo Baltzar has constructed a solid, full-blooded tale of Roma beliefs and customs built on a foundation of grim reality

Veijo Baltzar’s eighth novel, Sodassa ja rakkaudessa (’In love and war’, Tammi, 2008), is the story of a Roma community living on the outskirts of a German town from the end of the 1930s, through the concentration camps of the Second World War to the end of the war. Two young Romas emerge as the book’s main characters – Kastalo, an orphan shoe-shine boy and pickpocket who grew up on the streets, and Carinja, a young girl from a respectable Roma family with whom he falls in love. Obstacles to the misalliance arise from Carinja’s parents, her brother Giri, and her arranged bridegroom Bustan, as well as the tumult of world history. More…

Robert Åsbacka. - Photo: Leif Weckström

Pia Ingström on Robert Åsbacka’s novel Orgelbyggaren (‘The organ-builder’, Schildts 2008)

‘The organ-builder’ leaves me feeling sad, upset and happy, all at the same time. It seems odd that this gentle tale of an old man’s loneliness and sorrow after the death of his wife may be the most vibrant, intense and rousing novel I’ve read in a very long time. I am overjoyed that it is solid and substantial – a good, weight-bearing text, with plenty to unearth. I see now how Robert Åsbacka has been improving his craft as his career has progressed – and that his craft encompasses a great many talents. More…