Johanna Sinisalo’s new novel burns with gloom and power

We are pleased to share the praise for Johanna Sinisalo’s The Core of the Sun (Auringon ydin, Teos 2013) by Finland’s largest daily newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, on 15 October 2013:

“The Core of the Sun is Johanna Sinisalo’s (b. 1958) best novel since the Finlandia Prize-winning Not Before Sundown (2000).

Johanna Sinisalo creates a dystopia where women are bred into two breeds. (…) Her literary punch in the guts is delivered with skill and force. (…) After finishing the book, I needed to catch my breath: I sat there holding the volume, thinking “What a trip!”

The story inhabits the same sphere as The Handmaid’s Tale (1986) by Margaret Atwood, who figured in last week’s Nobel Prize speculations.

Both authors build a dystopia where women’s rights have been shorn to a minimum. In practical terms, women have been turned into walking wombs and instruments for men’s pleasure.

Atwood’s society was created by Christian fundamentalists, while in Sinisalo’s book, the Eusistocratic Republic of Finland is the result of a nanny state gone mad. (…)

Whereas Atwood creates a detailed world in the style of Tolkien, Sinisalo paints her nightmare vision with quick cuts and fictional text fragments.

In The Core of the Sun, the story unfolds through controlled torrents of precisely delineated scenes, images, and differing registers. Sinisalo demonstrates her mastery of rhythm, which she has honed writing scripts for television and cinema.“   – Helsingin Sanomat, Finland

For more information click the links below:
Full Review
Rights Guide

READING MATERIAL:
English sample, synopsis, Finnish edition

RIGHTS SOLD

The Core of the Sun
GERMANY, Klett-Cotta
FINLAND, Teos

The Blood of Angels
FINLAND, Teos
FRANCE, Actes Sud
POLAND, Foksal
WORLD ENGLISH, Peter Owen

Birdbrain
FINLAND, Teos
FRANCE, Actes Sud
NORWAY, Vega
UK, Peter Owen

Not Before Sundown /Troll – A Love Story
ALBANIA, Dituria
BRAZIL, Devir
BULGARIA, Perseus
CZECH, One Woman Press
FINLAND, Tammi
FRANCE, Actes Sud
GERMANY, Tropen
JAPAN, Sunmark
LATVIA, Atena
LITHUANIA, Vaga
POLAND, Terytoria
RUSSIA, Amphora
SLOVENIA, Modrijan
SPAIN, Poliedro
SWEDEN, Wahlstrom & Widstrand
UK, Peter Owen
US, Grove Atlantic

PRIZES
FINLANDIA PRIZE  2000 : Not Before Sundown/Troll – A Love Story
JAMES TIPTREE, JR. AWARD 2004: Not Before Sundown/Troll – A Love Story
NOMINATED FOR THE NEBULA AWARDS 2008:  Baby Doll
P. E . SVINHUFVUD AWARD 2011: The Blood of Angels
THE YOUNG ALEKSIS KIVI PRIZE 2012: The Blood of Angels and Birdbrain
NOMINATED FOR THE PRIX ESCAPADES 2012: Birdbrain

RIGHTS ENQUIRIES: Elina@ahlbackagency.com