Representing the best
Finnish authors abroad
Finnish authors abroad
Winner of the Runeberg Prize and nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize, Helene is a luminous literary portrait of the celebrated Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck (1862-1946), one of the most distinctive figures of Nordic modernism.
Drawn to the paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck, poet and writer Rakel Liehu embarked on a years-long quest to discover the woman behind the images. The result is an extraordinary novel that traces the life of one of the great pioneers of Nordic modernism.
Against a backdrop of artistic renewal, social change and war, Helene follows an artist utterly devoted to her art.
From her formative years in Paris and Brittany to the months of her life in a Swedish sanatorium and the haunting self-portraits of old age, Helene Schjerfbeck emerges as a singular consciousness, driven by an unwavering desire to capture the essence beneath appearances.
More than merely a biographical novel, Helene is a meditation on the mystery of artistic creation. Combining meticulous historical research with bold imaginative insight, Liehu explores the relationship between art and life.
Written with the insight of a poet and the intensity of a novelist, Helene is both an engrossing Künstlerroman and a profound reflection on the artistic vocation. A modern Nordic classic, it brings vividly to life one of Europe’s most fascinating painters while illuminating something universal about creativity itself.
As international interest in Helene Schjerfbeck continues to grow through major international exhibitions of her artwork in New York, London and Paris, Helene offers readers an unforgettable entry into the life and work of a pioneering modernist.
Runeberg Prize, 2004
Thank You for the Book Prize, 2005
Nordic Council Literary Prize nominee, 2005
Estonian (Ny Norden)
Norwegian (Gyldendal)
Swedish (Forum)
Helene (Nordisk Film, 2020)
‘A novel about an artist in which the blending of fact and fiction does not obscure but rather deepens our understanding of the artist’s calling.’— Author, literary critic Helena Ruuska, 2013
‘Rakel Liehu’s novel about the Finland-Swedish painter Helene Schjerfbeck is a major work of international interest, exceptionally well-written and well-structured.’ — Kulturnytt (Norway)
‘In this chronologically fragmented, fictional autobiography, the narrative takes flight, and one realizes why the Finnish poet and author Rakel Liehu has long been celebrated for her bold relationship with her mother tongue, a language that resists being dismantled. She endows Schjerfbeck with an impressionistic language, at once raw and restrained, peppered with French expressions and idiosyncratic punctuation, which fits well with what I have seen of the rebel’s surviving letters.’ — Ceclilia Nelson, Göteborgs Posten (Sweden)
‘Helene is a novel about one artist in particular and about the artist’s craft in general; it is profound and respectful, yet devoid of any idealisation or sentimental reverence. Although based on the life of Helene Schjerfbeck, it goes beyond the confines of a mere biography: it is a timeless exploration of creativity and its demands, of vocation, and of the determination required for any creative endeavour.” — Statement of the Runeberg Prize Jury winning announcement
‘Helene is an unconventional novel and a remarkable accomplishment in its own right. It paints a vivid portrait of its protagonist while uncovering something universal in both the experience of living and the act of artistic creation.’ —Helsingin Sanomat daily newspaper
‘Rakel Liehu writes Schjerfbeck’s inner monologue, which at times becomes a fragmented stream of consciousness. The past and the present alternate, and the events are not presented in chronological order. This approach works well. It avoids the danger that so easily threatens works of this kind: that of presenting human life as though it were following some coherent plot.’ —Helsingin Sanomat daily newspaper
‘A human face was Helene Schjerfbeck’s great passion, her true icon. Rakel Liehu captures this fascination with extraordinary sensitivity. In her novel, the poet-novelist writes with an intensity reminiscent of that found in Schjerfbeck’s paintings. The artist’s late still lives, at once austere and deeply moving, have been a profound source of inspiration for Liehu.’ — Etelä-Suomen Sanomat daily newspaper
‘A breathtaking journey into the inner world of the artist Schjerfbeck. A magnificent artist novel.’ — Turun Sanomat daily newspaper
