The Gatherers
By Elli Salo
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2025 FINLANDIA PRIZE IN FICTION
A tragicomic novel about gathering and gatherers where three women and a retired dog find themselves randomly convened at a deserted border patrol station at the Finnish-Russian border.
Taciturn Ani, once an award-winning wildlife-photographer, runs a declining bear-watching business for tourists in the remote outpost of Lääte, where she lives on the local campsite with her German Shepherd Friend, a retired border patrol dog.
Librarian Ljudmila, born and raised in the Soviet gulags and having endured marriage to a Finn, now gets by on her own foraging berries and mushrooms for a living and residing in a worn-out caravan filled with herbs, potions and stories.
Then, Heini, a Finnish archeologist bereaved by the death of her younger brother, temporarily moves into a nearby cabin to map out mass graves from the renowned battles on Raate Road in 1940, to gather ghosts on the map, and to face the big questions in life.
A bond grows between the three women, and as far as they may seem from everything, as close to the core of almost everything they get. Suddenly, the peripheral Lääte turns into the navel of the world: history that seems to be catching up with us, human knowledge of civilization and the disappearance of the untamed nature come together in this touching yet comic novel about life, not death. The embodiment of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction, Elli Salo tells the story not of those who hunt or conquer, but those who stay behind to cook, wash dishes, boil potatoes - the gatherers - even in the midst of crisis and catastrophe. Cheryl Strayed’s Wild meets Lyudmila Ulitskaya.
READING MATERIAL
Finnish edition & PDF
Sample translation 62 pp.
Synopsis
Publishing information
Awards & nominations
Nominations
2025
Finlandia Prize in Fiction
2025
Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize
Reviews
“Elli Salo's The Gatherers is this spring's literary highlight, and with good reason.”
“The Gatherers is an innovative debut novel that stands out from the crowd. The combination of tragedy and comedy creates a balanced entity. It makes you cry and laugh.”
“A feast of literary delights. [...] Salo weaves together her bold ingredients into an original, joyful and greater- than-the-sum-of-its-parts whole, which plays, teases, and hits the mark by channeling through laughter and tragedy.”
“Elli Salo's debut novel gathers the physical and mental scars of World War II near the eastern border.”
“The secret to Finnish happiness lies within this compelling debut novel.”
“The Gatherers is an outstanding and mature debut novel.”
“It is a poignantly beautiful story, at the heart of which lies a silent understanding of another person. There are various ways to care for others and many types of friendships.”
