Aki Ollikainen

"A grey carpet covering the firmament. If God is behind it, he is not looking at Finland"
By sally tarbox on 4 January 2017
Format: Kindle Edition
In a short read, the author creates a vivid impression of the terrible Finnish famine of 1867. There are two strands - Marja, a starving peasant woman, fleeing through the snow to St Petersburg and bread; and the well-to-do members of government. As the former abandons her dying husband and travels through the snow with her children, the latter are making 'principled decisions' about not getting the country into debt by buying in food. As Marja fends off her husband's desire for fear of pregnancy, doctor Teo has no such compunctions about the whores he visits. And as terrible scenes of death, hostility and cold confront Marja, the politician's wife is pondering her plant not flowering.

Impressed with it as I read it though it somehow didn't leave any lasting feelings.… (more)

A short but tense reading journey through the winter of famine in 1867 Finland. The story has two focusses: a poor rural family leaving the north for the hope of food in the city; the city with its own complex intersecting social circles. The two draw closer together as the book progresses and the winter deepens.

The misery seems relentless as we see the pressures that hunger has upon both individuals and society. The book is also about a particular time in Finland's history as it looks to establish itself as a nation on the edge of Europe. The government has impossible decisions to make, paralling those of the starving individuals.

Thanks to Pereine Press and translators Fleur and Emily Jeremiah for bringing this hautning book to and English readership.… (more)