Oneiron-1
2020 Longlist

Oneiron

Translated from the Finnish by Owen Witesman
artwork-image

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 AUTHOR Laura
Lindstedt

Laura Lindstedt burst onto the Finnish literary scene in 2007 with her debut novel Scissors, which earned her a nomination for the Finlandia Prize, the country’s most prestigious literary honour. Lindstedt’s second novel Oneiron has continued Lindstedt’s critical success, earning her the 2015 Finlandia Prize. She lives in Helsinki.

Laura Lindstedt burst onto the Finnish literary scene in 2007 with her debut novel Scissors, which earned her a nomination for the Finlandia Prize, the country’s most prestigious literary honour. Lindstedt’s second novel Oneiron has continued Lindstedt’s critical success, earning her the 2015 Finlandia Prize. She lives in Helsinki.

ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Owen
Witesman

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

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Country
Finland
Original Language
Finnish
Publisher
Oneworld Publications
Translator
Owen Witesman
Translation
Translated from the Finnish by Owen Witesman

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