Matti Virtanen holds down the fort at home. A male member of the equal rights generation, he spends his time cooking, cleaning and changing nappies. Then a single blow with the fist separates him from his family. This gives him will and fortitude, but forces him to extreme action. He wants his wife and child back, and a home for them in a nice villa in suburban Helsinki. Such a life is the ultimate dream of many, but housing prices are off the chart. Now the mortgaged lives of suburban families are threatened by Virtanen, who has no intention of getting himself a house the regular way.

Trench Road reveals the mythic dimensions of the ordinary. It is a thrilling story about how costly realising your dreams can be. Even at moments of deepest tragedy, the comedy rings through. The novel was awarded the Finlandia Prize and the Nordic Council Literary Prize.

Rights sold

Faroese (Nýlendi 2005)
Dutch (de Rode Kamer 2006)
Islandic (Edda 2005)
Japanese (Shinhyoron 2004)
Latvian (Dienas Gramata 2006)
Norwegian (Cappelen 2005)
French (J. C. Lattes 2005)
Swedish (Forum 2004)
German (Piper 2005)
Danish (Gyldendal 2004)
Russian (Azbooka 2004)
Estonian (Tänapäev 2005)
Spanish (Meettok)
Georgia (Siesta)
Italian (Iperborea)
Korean (Positive Thinking Publishing)
Croatia (Skolska Knjiga)
Lithuanian (Vaga)
Mari (Vasili Janalov)
Serbian (Skolska Knjiga)
Czech (Dybbuk)
Hungarian (Kalevala Ystävyyspiiri; Tillinger Péter Könyvmuhelye)

See other books from this author:

Finnhits

St Isaac's Cathedral

The Careless

The Human Lot