What kind of shadows cast the people who are trying to help?
Author: Pauliina Rauhala
Finnish original: Synninkantajat
Publisher: Gummerus, 2018
Genre: literary fiction
Number of pages: 367 pp.
Reading material: Finnish original, English sample
Rural Western Finland in the end of the 1970s. In a village by a river people live on the edge of time and eternity–the second coming of Jesus is near.
In the daytime Taisto chats to birds and flowers in his garden, but at night he is building a tight, religious ark for those who are willing to confess their sins and repent. Aliisa still remembers a diferent way of practising her faith and dares to question spiritual Care Assemblies. Her daughter Auroora is battling with love that transgresses boundaries. Aaron, a ten-year-old, prays devotedly so that none of his relatives ends up in hell. He writes secrets in The Notebook of Important Things and is building an ark of his own.
Harvest is a novel about an introverted religious community and the various nuances of love. The story of a family deepens into a portrayal of spiritual control and longing for love.
Pauliina Rauhala’s debut novel Heavensong has sold 67,000 copies in Finland. Harvest rose straight to #3 on the bestseller list and has been nominated for the Finlandia Prize, Botnia Prize and the Christian Book of the year award.
Also available:
Heavensong
About the author:
Pauliina Rauhala