To My Brother by E.L. Karhu hits the stage: the theatre play makes its debut at the Finnish National Theatre on September 19th, and will stay there all the way into mid-October.
The play is directed by Otto Sandqvist, and in the main roles are Niina Hosiasluoma, Sara Melleri, Herman Nyby and Emma Pälsynaho.
To My Brother is E.L. Karhu‘s debut novel, but theatre-goers will recognise her as an established playwright so it is with joy that To My Brother is welcomed on the stage.
The novel follows a greedy, lonely girl who watches her beautiful, popular brother atop the sensual bodies of his girlfriend candidates. If someone were to look at the girl, they might see a loser who binges on sweets, devours soap operas, and trails her brother like a shadow. Her intense narration forces one to stare, to look more closely. Is this only strange, or is there, actually, something that you can relate to? To My Brother is filled with dark humour, the oddities of an out-grown sibling relationship, of many-facets lust, and social and sexual hierarchies. It is striking, deep, entertaining, funny, and tragic at the same time, and it certainly is a novel unlike anything else you have read.
In October 2021, it was nominated for the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize, given to the best debut of the year. In 2023 it was nominated for the Medicis prize for the best work of foreign fiction, and its French rights have been acquired by La Peuplade.
In Finland, To My Brother is published by Teos.