The Book of Flesh

Lihakirja

A powerful and fearless novel about power, the body, and breaking of boundaries.

Written by a two-time Finlandia Prize nominee, this novel invites the reader to search for the truth.

“This is not a contest about who is bad and who is good. That doesn’t interest me. I am interested only in the truth.”

The story features a woman and a man. The woman is portrayed as a witch. The man an inquisitor. One night, they find themselves together in a hotel room. Next morning, the woman wakes up without her underwear and with a strange feeling. She doesn’t know what happened and he refuses to tell. Haunted by nightmares, and desperate to find out the truth, the woman keeps on asking the man if there was a crime. A hare comes to pick up the reader and acts as a narrator to the story, intending to find out what really happened between the two. The hare leads the reader through Dante’s Inferno and back again, on a journey that examines the roots of lies, the consequences of crossing boundaries and the history of revenge.

The Book of Flesh does more than merely questions preconceived ideas—it reveals how power is tied up with subjugation, both in human relationships and in our treatment of other animals and in the language we use. This self-assured novel boldly discusses the structures of society from a wholly new perspective. Laura Gustafsson’s self-assured novel shakes, challenges and moves the reader — and cannot be forgotten.

Materials

English sample
English synopsis
Finnish edition