Finnish author Minna Rytisalo (b. 1974) participated in the International Book Festival in Budapest on the last weekend of September. Rytisalo's debut novel Lempi (2016) has been translated into Hungarian this autumn. The book has been a critical and commercial success in Finland. The book was awarded the Thanks for the Book Award and the Botnia Prize, and has already been translated into seven languages. The novel tells the story of a family tragedy during the Lapland War, in which three different characters describe their lives and their relationship with a woman named Lempi. The novel explores the effects of love, loss and lies on human relationships.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Minna Rytisalo before the night's writers' meeting organised by the Embassy of Finland in Budapest. This was her first visit to the Hungarian capital, and she was excited about how the Hungarian translation of her novel Lempi has been able to reach a new audience. Rytisalo is a great lover of literature, reading more than 100 books a year. This love of literature was strongly reflected in our conversation and made it particularly inspiring.

Lempi is your debut novel. Could you tell us about the story behind it?

My debut novel Lempi was conceived in the spring of 2015, when I had just turned 40. As a result, I started to wonder if I could write my own book. I had been a teacher for a long time, and a passionate reader since childhood. The idea of writing my own novel had been on my mind for many years. I thought that if I didn't try now, I might regret it later. The decision to write Lempi was born, and the manuscript was completed surprisingly quickly, in about nine months. At the beginning of 2016, I signed a publishing contract, and the book was published the following summer. The writing process was effortless, which felt almost surreal. It's great to see that Lempi is still going strong – including the play version in Helsinki, which will premiere in a few months.

Could you tell us about the themes of your novel?

As a writer, I think structure is particularly important, and in Lempi I wanted to experiment with a structure where the narrative is divided between three different narrators, but each of them gets to speak only once. This is not a typical dialogue structure. In the book, each narrator has an independent voice and perspective through which they describe events. I thought it was important that each character in the novel is the protagonist of their own life, even though in another person's story they might be a minor character. In Lempi, this is made concrete in the way different narrators describe the absent Lempi from their own perspectives. The point was to illustrate how one person cannot see another person as fully whole.

Your novel is set in the Lapland War, why did you decide to write about this war?

I chose the Lapland War as the background for the novel partly because the setting of the story is familiar to me personally. The setting of my book, Korvasjärvi, is actually my own home village Kelujärvi in Sodankylä. As a child, I heard many stories about how the village was burnt to the ground during the war. My grandmother often told me how she had returned from the war to an empty village. Everything had been burnt and life had to start again from scratch. The Lapland War as a historical event also fascinates me. It was a major turning point in which the alliance between Finland and Germany came to a swift and dramatic end. Friends became enemies overnight, and this change had a profound impact on people's lives. Such events and their effects are of enormous interest in literature and provide an opportunity to explore human emotions and reactions during a crisis. This historical drama and the human stories of post-war reconstruction provide a deep and meaningful context for the story.

What kind of background work did you do for the book?

I did very thorough background work, which included a lot of reading about the war and related events. I found Virpi Suutari's documentary film Auf Wiedersehen Finnland, where German brides talk about their own experiences. In the documentary, young women discover how life was not so rosy despite their hopes. I also take a close look at events during the Lapland War, such as evacuations and partisan attacks. This was important to anchor the story in a historical context.

How has being a Finnish language teacher affected your writing?

After suffering from burn out, I quit my job as a mother tongue teacher in high school. This was not an easy decision, as I had chosen this vocation because of my love for the subject. I was unable to continue my work as the constant changes were shaking up high school education. Currently, I am a freelance writer and entrepreneur. However, my work as a mother tongue teacher has influenced my writing in many ways. For years I have been reading and evaluating students' texts, which has given me a good basis for understanding structures and how to maintain a thread in a text. The sheer volume of texts I have read has also trained me as an editor. Being a teacher has given me the ability to deal with critical feedback. I have learned that not everything has to be taken personally, because everyone has their own views and tastes. As a teacher, I know that I can't please everyone, and the same goes for writing.

Your works have been translated into several languages. How have you experienced the reception of your books internationally?

The international reception of Lempi has been very interesting. In the German translation, the book begins with a couple of pages of translator's commentary on the history between Finland and Germany during the Second World War. It has been interesting to note how many Finns have been unfamiliar with the events of the Lapland War. It has also been an eye-opening experience for me to realise that this history is not so obvious to everyone.

Which topics interest you now?

When I think about my future works, I realise that I have not yet completely broken away from the themes I have dealt with in the past. I am still interested in the role of women and the power of the patriarchy. I have a strong feeling that I have not yet said everything on the subject. However, I cannot reveal more, let us see what the future holds.

Who?
Minna Rytisalo

Place of residence: Kuusamo
Occupation: writer
Education: Master of Philosophy
Hobbies: Pilates, berry picking and baking sourdough bread.
A book everyone should read: Tove Jansson's Summer Book

 

Text by Saaga Kaján