Liv! by Helmi Kekkonen is travelling to Hungary, where it will be published by Polar. The book is one of this year’s nominees for the Finlandia Prize.
Helmi Kekkonen‘s newest novel Liv! is starting its journey out into the world, and is now travelling to Hungary, where it will be published by Polar. Liv! is one of this year’s nominees for the Finlandia Prize, the largest and most prestigious literary award in Finland, and has been welcomed with warm praise by both readers and critics.
In Liv! we follow 22-year-old Liv, who is on holiday on an island in the Finnish archipelago with her family. One day she is approached by a man while she is sunbathing on the cliffs, and he is a little too friendly, sits a little too close. Nevertheless, Liv is intrigued, and agrees to meet him again without telling her family. What awaits Liv at their meeting seems obvious to the reader, even though it shouldn’t be. Slowly, Liv opens up about being assaulted, and all the women in her family enter a collision course: they all want what’s best for Liv, but each of them has a different opinion as to what that is. Liv! is a choral reflection around a harsh, but necessary question: what would you do if it happened to you?
Helmi Kekkonen is one of the strongest contemporary voices in Finland. Her previous production includes This Woman’s Life, The Guests, and Topsy-Turvy Anna. In Finland her work is published by Siltala.
Polar is a Hungarian publishing house with a strong focus on high-quality literature from the Nordics. They are the Hungarian home of, among others, Pearl by Kari Hotakainen, 101 Ways to Kill Your Husband by Laura Lindstedt & Sinikka Vuola, Beasts of the Sea by Iida Turpeinen, and A Wooden Prayer by Antti Hurskainen.
Warm congratulations to the author and the publishers!