The Winter War
Published on 27. August 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-1-78125-489-9 (ISBN)
Description
On the surface, the Paul family are living the liberal, middle-class dream in Helsinki. Max Paul is a renowned sociologist and his wife Katriina has a well-paid government job. They live in a beautiful apartment in the centre of the city. But look closer and the cracks start to show.
As he approaches his sixtieth birthday, the certainties of Max's life begin to dissolve. His wife no longer loves him, and his grown-up daughters - one in London, one in Helsinki - have problems of their own. So when a former student turned journalist shows up and offers him a seductive lifeline, Max starts down a dangerous path from which he may never find a way back.
Funny, sharp, and brilliantly truthful, Teir's debut has the feel of a big, contemporary, humane American novel, but with a distinctly Scandinavian edge.
As he approaches his sixtieth birthday, the certainties of Max's life begin to dissolve. His wife no longer loves him, and his grown-up daughters - one in London, one in Helsinki - have problems of their own. So when a former student turned journalist shows up and offers him a seductive lifeline, Max starts down a dangerous path from which he may never find a way back.
Funny, sharp, and brilliantly truthful, Teir's debut has the feel of a big, contemporary, humane American novel, but with a distinctly Scandinavian edge.
Reviews / Votes
Shot through with understated black humour and nicely balanced between tender and acerbic, this impressive novel is a forceful reminder that there is much more to Scandinavian writing than crime fiction * Sunday Times * Teir offers a sardonic yet sympathetic critique of a multi-generational family ... remarkable eye for human behaviour ... an intelligent debut * Telegraph * cool yet compassionate...bitingly funny...engrossing * The Lady * Written with unshowy care and thought...there's something Anglo-Americanly, unScandinavianly familiar about the way Teir tackles these domestic and emotional entanglements - only with weird Finnish names, very heavy snowfall and temperatures that reach -20 Celsius -- Harry Ritchie * Daily Mail * funny, sharply observed and very readable * Press Association * Somewhere between Richard Yates and John Updike, but with a Nordic temperament that is cooler ... Teir writes about an academic middle class family with a realism that is both ironically compassionate and warmly critical * Expressen * Little short of brilliant ... The Winter War is firmly rooted in an Anglo-Saxon tradition, alongside writers such as Julian Barnes, Alan Hollinghurst and Jeffrey Eugenides * Joenkoepings-Posten * This is set in Helsinki and concerns the author's own community of Finland-Swedes. It's more Scandi-gris than Scandi-noir - deceptively monochrome but enlivened with a humour as sour as pickled herring and often as delicious. This is an everyday tale of midlife crisis among spoilt, middle-class folk. Think Wallander with laughs. -- Kate Saunders * The Times * A domestic drama with all the tension of a needling thriller * Shortlist *More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Profile Books Ltd
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
256 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78125-489-9 (9781781254899)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Persons
Finland-Swede Philip Teir is considered one of the most promising young writers in Scandinavia. His poetry and short stories have been included in anthologies, including Granta Finland. The Winter War is his first novel. He is married with two children and lives in Helsinki, Finland, in the same neighbourhood as the Paul family.