The River
ORIGINAL TITLE: Väylä
NUMBER OF PAGES: 269
AUTHOR: Rosa Liksom
ORIGINAL PUBLISHER: LIKE
GENRE: Current Books, Fiction
“We all have one thing in common–we’re on the road, and we’re headed west.”
September 1944. Tens of thousands of people are abandoning their homes to escape the destruction left in the wake of the Lapland War. A young girl whose family has been devastated by the conflict makes her way through this landscape, leading the cows from her home farm all the way.
The River is a captivating novel about migration, refugee camps, and the river that marks the boundary between life and death for people who have left their homes behind. It is a year in the life of a girl from a tiny village, a story about roads that become trails, about nature, and about her search for her mother.
Liksom’s narrative makes the very mud sing.
Reviews
“The River fascinates. The story is beautiful and touching, even fun in some places. ”
Helsingin sanomat
”The River is the most rigorous realism in its style, reflecting a strong spark of hope."
Satakunnan
“Liksom has written a captivating novel about people caught in the grip of war”
Keskisuomalainen
”A northern masterpiece”
Karjalainen
”Rosa Liksom has written one of her best novels to date”
Lapin Kansa
"One of the most impressive parts of Liksom's magnificent work is how it describes animals and the relationship between them and humans"
Turun Sanomat
”The River is a great novel about humanity and especially the smallness of man."
Me Nasiet
Rights sold
Czech Rights sold to Pistorius & Olšanská
Estonian rights sold to Koolibri
Finnish Rights sold to LIKE
French Rights sold to Gallimard
German Rights sold to Penguin Verlag
Italian rights sold to Iperborea
Swedish rights sold to Wahlström & Widstrand