Elena

An intriguing, excruciatingly beautiful novella about a lonely man and his growing obsession with a mysterious woman.

For the past three months the man has been preoccupied with a woman he saw from afar. He has been waiting for her in the park every day since, observing her, discovering and imagining her life – but he never attempts to approach her. A book left behind on a stair reveals her name: Elena.

In the summer, the woman disappears. When she returns with autumn, an inner restraint is unleashed, and the man realises the reason he is drawn to her. And then he meets Elena, but only once.

The fourth book by the master of shorter literary fiction, Elena was nominated for the 2003 Finlandia Prize.