Oneiron
ABOUT
THE BOOK
Seven women meet in a white, undefined space seconds after their deaths. Time, as we understand it, has ceased to exist, and all bodily sensations have disappeared. None of the women can remember what happened to them, where they are, or how they got there. They don’t know each other. In turn they try to remember, to piece together the fragments of their lives, their identities, their lost loves, and to pinpoint the moment they left their former lives behind.
Deftly playing with genres from essay to poetry, Oneiron explores the question of what follows death and delves deep into the lives and experiences of seven unforgettable women.
ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Owen
Witesman
Owen F. Witesman is a professional literary translator with a master’s in Finnish and Estonian from Indiana University. He has translated more than thirty Finnish books into English from a wide range of genres. His publications include The Human Part by Kari Hotakainen (MacLehose, 2012); two crime novels by Pekka Hiltunen, Cold Courage (2013, Hesperus) and Black Noise (forthcoming, Hesperus) four mystery novels by Leena Lehtolainen (2012–14, AmazonCrossing), and a YA thriller trilogy by Salla Simukka that debuts this August with As Red as Blood (Hot Key/Skyscape). He currently resides in Springville, Utah, with his wife and three daughters.
Owen F. Witesman is a professional literary translator with a master’s in Finnish and Estonian from Indiana University. He has translated more than thirty Finnish books into English from a wide range of genres. His publications include The Human Part by Kari Hotakainen (MacLehose, 2012); two crime novels by Pekka Hiltunen, Cold Courage (2013, Hesperus) and Black Noise (forthcoming, Hesperus) four mystery novels by Leena Lehtolainen (2012–14, AmazonCrossing), and a YA thriller trilogy by Salla Simukka that debuts this August with As Red as Blood (Hot Key/Skyscape). He currently resides in Springville, Utah, with his wife and three daughters.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
Seven women from different countries and cultures meet and tell their stories. There is no place or time in their meeting, since they are all appearing one after another in an intermediate state of death. How did they die and why are they together now? Laura Lindstedt’s text is clear and catching even though the setting of her story is as mysterious and unclear as it possibly can be. Oneiron was awarded Finland’s most outstanding literary prize Finlandia at 2015. Espoo City Library, Finland
Seven women with different backgrounds have ended up in an empty white space they cannot escape. Little by little their bodily needs are disappearing as are their ability to feel any emotions. What has happened to them? In her critically acclaimed second novel Laura Lindstedt has created an original, multi-faceted fantasy with feminist hues. Using multiple styles she tells us not only about the lives of the seven women, but also about the moments between life and death. Helsinki City Library, Finland
A very creative intuition originates the stories of seven women in a no-place, maybe death. Their relationships, their love and suffering put in common to overcome their solitude, and search for a way out of this space to somewhere else….or back to life. Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli “Vittorio Emanuele III”, Italy