Today is the official publishing day of Petra Rautianen’s second novel Memory of Ocean. The novel has already been recieved well with a great review from Savon Sanomat. The translation rights for the anticipated novel have already been sold in four languages!
Memory of Ocean (Meren muisti), Petra Rautiainen’s second novel, was published today in Finland by Otava and has already recieved a great review from Johanna Suominen at Savon Sanomat. Petra Rautiainen’s new novel got its start even before the Savonia prize-winning first book – Memory of Ocean deals with the theme of the climate crisis. The translation rights for Memory of Ocean has already been sold to Gyldendal (Norway), Marsilio (Italy), Meridaan (Netherlands) and Modtryk (Denmark).
In Memory of Ocean we follow Aapa, a woman of Kven origin, as she returns to northern Norway to explore the Arctic oil reserves after a decade of absence. In the meantime, Norway has been enriched with oil, and nothing is as it used to be. Aapa faces the trauma of the past in her hometown, and little by little it becomes apparent that things are not exactly the way Aapa lets the reader understand. She proves to be an unreliable narrator who intentionally twists the past. But what has really happened to her late mother?
In a second plotline, an unknow narrator examines the changes caused by global warming in the Artic Ocean for a documentary and reveals that the biggest players of the oil industry were already in 1959 aware of their dangerous impact on nature and climate change. Read more about Memory of Ocean here.
Memory of Ocean recieved its first review today from Johanna Suominen at Savon Sanomat. Here are some quotes from the review:
“Petra Rautiainen’s Memory of Ocean is an important novel: it is startling and effective, it makes the reader ponder on the actions of humans, our history, and our entire relationship to our creation. It is the story of a small person, Aapa, but at the same time it is a story about so much more.”
“Like the natural science with its interesting facts and the practices of the culture, they intertwine naturally with the plot and the thematics. In Rautiainen’s sensual prose the language itself stands out. At its best it forces the reader to stop and taste the words and the realizations.”
Petra Rautiainen’s first novel Land of Snow and Ashes (Tuhkaan piirretty maa) was a huge sucess and the translation rights have been sold in ten different languages. Land of Snow and Ashes was sold to and published by the following publishers: Europakiadó (Hungary), Gyldendal (Norway), Marsilio (Italy), Meridiaan (Netherlands), Modtryk (Denmark), Nordstedts (Sverige), Paseka (Czech Republic), Pushkin (English world rights), Seuil (France), Suhrkamp/Insel (Germany). It also recieved the Savonia Prize in 2020 and was nominated for Book of the Year at Suomalainen Kirjakauppa.
Are you interested in a publishing deal with Petra Rautiainen? Hit us with your idea at publishing@rightsandbrands.com