Not Tomorrow, Either
With her signature wit and accomplished dialogue, Finland’s acclaimed novelist returns with a closely-observed novel that asks whether money really can buy love?
One year after her husband has passed away, Elsa finds herself alone at New Year’s Eve. None of the invitees has shown up to her party, friends from her previous life have lost interest in the widow. With plenty of irony, humor and all her might, Elsa tries to keep her self-esteem from collapsing.
After midnight and two bottles of champagne, she staggers out to make her way to the karaoke bar. In the yard a young man claims that she has forgotten her shoes and escorts her back inside. Valtteri is served delicacies, stores away the leftovers and helps Elsa into her bed. Before leaving, he drops his business card on her nightstand.
Sixty-year-old Elsa, who had already abandoned her identity as a desirable woman with a vivid sexuality when her husband started seeing other women, suddenly awakes to a teenage-like crush on the considerably younger Valtteri. A special relationship unfolds. But money can’t buy love… or can it?
info
Year of publication
2023
Original title
Huomenna hän ei tule
Page count
207
Original publisher
Otava
Original language of publication
Finnish
Reviews
Helsingin Sanomat
“There are many humorous dialogues about current topics such as the ineligibility of the youth and the fact that nothing can be said anymore these days.”
Helsingin Sanomat
“The sexuality of an aging woman and the feelings related to it are described in an unashamed way that evokes a wide range of emotions.”
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Quote
”She saw the streetcar approaching. Would the driver be offended if she put out her hand and waved to make sure he would stop? He could see there was someone at the stop. Elsa decided not to raise her hand. There was surely a passenger on board who would want to get off here. Elsa took out her monthly transit pass and got ready to climb on. The streetcar drove right past. It didn’t even slow down as it went by. Elsa glanced around and made sure that no one had noticed. If she had waved at the streetcar and it had driven past anyway, that would have been a disaster. People did say that women became invisible when they hit middle age. Is that what this was?”