The Summer Book
About the book
A grandmother and granddaughter spend a summer on a small island.
Original title: Sommarboken
Europe · A READING GUIDE
Finland
Jansson and Paasilinna offer short starting points about intimacy and escape from conventional life respectively. Linna portrays war, while Waltari takes historical fiction to ancient Egypt. Oksanen and Statovci widen the perspective towards Estonia, Kosovo and migration, and Fagerholm towards memory and growing up. Krohn and Itäranta offer fantasy and speculation; the section brings together authors working in Finnish, Swedish and English.
WHERE TO START
- The Summer BookTove Jansson
- The Year of the HareArto Paasilinna
- PurgeSofi Oksanen
Books to begin with
An editorial selection · not rankedNo matches. Try another language or search term.
Fair Play
About the book
A writer and an artist shape their shared life around work, travel and stays on an island.
Original title: Rent spel
The Year of the Hare
About the book
A journalist leaves his old life behind and travels through Finland with a rescued hare.
Original title: Jäniksen vuosi
Purge
About the book
Two women’s encounter in Estonia reveals family secrets and a legacy of violence.
Original title: Puhdistus
My Cat Yugoslavia
About the book
A family’s flight from Kosovo intertwines with a young man’s life in Finland.
Original title: Kissani Jugoslavia
The American Girl
About the book
An American girl’s death anchors a story of growing up and secrets in a Finnish community.
Original title: Den amerikanska flickan
The Unknown Soldier
About the book
A Finnish military unit experiences the Continuation War through the realities of everyday combat.
Original title: Tuntematon sotilas
The Egyptian
About the book
Physician Sinuhe recounts his life in Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean world.
Original title: Sinuhe egyptiläinen
Memory of Water
About the book
A young tea master guards a spring’s secret in a world where water is under military control.
Original title: Teemestarin kirja
Tainaron: Mail from Another City
About the book
Letters from a city inhabited by insects turn observations of another culture into questions about human life.
Original title: Tainaron
The True Deceiver
About the book
Two women’s encounter in a snowbound village exposes the uncertain boundary between honesty and manipulation.
The Woman Who Borrowed Memories
About the book
Stories explore solitude, artistic work and relationships that disturb familiar comforts.
Context and sources
Sources on authors and their connections to this country. Specific edition details appear beside each book. Polish and English originals are not labelled as translations.
Your next destination
Europe · Reading guide
France
12 selected books
EnglishPolish
Europe · Reading guide
Georgia
8 selected books
EnglishPolish
Europe · Reading guide
Germany
12 selected books
EnglishPolish