Where Worlds Begin

An enchanting novel of a young artist which asks how one could be faithful to oneself and love.

Visa is 16 years old and lives with his mother. He has an evening job as a cinema usher. One winter evening, a film he sees about Vincent van Gogh awakens a frenzied urge to paint.

His mind is filled with an intoxicating notion: he will become an artist. With a brush in his hand, Visa sees the world as if for the first time. Visa meets the melancholic Tapio at drawing classes. The boys dream of Chagall’s worlds and Continental cities. Tapio’s sister Helmi, a sweet and wise girl, is everything Tapio is not: confident and full of joie de vivre.

This brilliant literary novel delves into the mysteries of artistic creation and asks whether happiness always has a downside, always a negative to a positive.