Halla

Halla

Four women. Four centuries. One place that remembers them all.

An unforgettable novel of love, survival, and the women whose lives are bound together by Halla, a remote farmstead that endures through centuries of war, hardship, and change.

In 1713, Pieta flees the horrors of war and finds refuge at Halla, where she falls in love with the married master of Halla. After the great famine years, the determined Eliina settles on the abandoned farm, haunted by choices she made in pursuit of happiness. When her granddaughter

Tuomi leaves for a new life overseas, Halla is left empty once again. In the 1960s, Hilja arrives and dares to follow her heart, while in the 2020s an unexpected discovery hidden within the farm’s log walls reveals a secret that has slept for generations.

Lives begin and end at Halla. The farm is abandoned and rediscovered, generation after generation, yet the old house remains, much like the ancient memorial pine beside it, marked with the years of its inhabitants’deaths.

In this atmospheric and beautifully crafted novel, Maritta Lintunen intertwines the destinies of people separated by centuries but united by a single place. Inspired by the author’s own family history, Halla is a poignant and evocative saga about memory, belonging, resilience, and the traces we leave behind for those who come after us.

Materials

Finnish edition
English sample translation and synopsis

Praise

‘Halla is a sensuous and deeply affecting novel about the power of stories and the bonds that connect generations. It is also a timely and thought-provoking reflection on the elationship between people, nature, and landscape, challenging the culture of relentless efficiency that increasingly permeates every aspect of life. iterature at its finest, Halla lingers in the reader’s mind long after the final page has been turned.’ —Jari Paavonheimo, Kulttuuritoimitus cultural platform, 5/5 stars 

‘The novel centres on a remarkable cast of women, united by love or family ties to Halla, a small ancestral farm on the edge of the wilderness. Richly evocative and deftly attuned to the voices of different historical periods, it is among the finest novels I have read in recent years. An unforgettable reading experience.’ —Anna Ferrante, Anna magazine