Loukko by 
Original title: Punainen myrsky
Author: Elina Hirvonen
Published: 2019
Publisher: WSOY
Genre: Literary Fiction
Pages: 300
Reading material:
English sample & synopsis
As a small boy grows up in Iraq ruled by Saddam Hussein, fear is always present. His father is part of an underground opposition movement that tries to overthrow the dictator. The father ends up spending years in prison, and the boy learns that just one wrong word can put his life in danger.
The family escapes to melancholy Finland, a country recovering from financial depression. It is a safe country, but the boy grows up with mixed feelings: can one be a good Muslim and a good Finnish boy? When ISIS in rising in Iraq, the boy returns to his home country as a peace negotiator, hoping to build a county where his children can travel safely to one day.
Hirvonen depicts fantasticly how the people who have fleed their homes will always bear a longing in them. The main character is able to leave his agonies behind and start a new life in a new county, but he will always long for the lost chance of happy lives with his family in his own country. One of the most important books of the year.
– Seppo Puttonen, literary critic
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