7 October 2025
Autumn 2025 Highlights in Fiction and Non-Fiction
Our Fiction and Non-Fiction Catalogues are out, and this season, we’re excited to introduce some new voices and stories alongside familiar names. See the latest highlights below and discover more titles in the full catalogue. Download the Fiction Catalogue here and the Non-Fiction Catalogue here.
Highlights in Fiction
In fiction, Ulla Rask’s debut historical adventure novel Blanka, Daughter of the Baltic Sea (Blanka, Itämeren tytär), a Finnish bestseller, opens a suspenseful, historical novel series that connects the Hanseatic League cities across the Baltic Sea region, perilous seafaring, love and the fates of people during the turbulent 17th century.
Jenni Räinä’s newest masterful novel Persecution (Vaino) grips the reader tightly. It transports to the darkest moments of the Great Wrath in the 18th century, one of the cruellest periods in Finnish history.
Petra Rautiainen returns with her third novel, Tree Killers (Puuntappajat), a gripping historical novel with a dual narrative that spans 1918 and 1934, reading like a thriller.
Another newcomer on our list is Elli Salo with her debut novel The Gatherers (Keräilijät). This tragicomic novel about gathering and gatherers, where three women and a retired dog find themselves randomly convened at a deserted border patrol station at the Finnish-Russian border, was praised by Helsingin Sanomat newspaper as “a feast of literary delights”. The Finnish Playwrights and Scriptwriters Association recently awarded Salo’s play of the same name the 2025 Lea Prize for Drama.
Other People’s Pleasure (När andra njuter) is a page-turner by one of the most interesting Nordic names, Quynh Tran. The author’s second novel is about a mother and a daughter, exploring violence and desire, as well as the longing for the unknown that awaits around the corner. According to Sydsvenskan, “Tran more than succeeds in portraying the thoughts and traumas of two different generations.”
Ivan Maniraho’s debut, Why the Sun (Auringon syy), is a gripping and unruly coming-of-age novel from Rwanda to the suburbs of Helsinki, telling a story of the fragility of identity and the incredible journey between two realities.
Emmi-Liia Sjöholm’s third novel, The Cicadas (Kaskaat), is a cinematic novel about friendship, desire and guilt. It’s a touching and suspenseful narrative about the friendship between two girls, and a heated depiction of a holiday that changes everything. Sjöholm’s previous two novels, Like Me (Paperilla toinen) and Hippos (Virtahevot), have been critical successes in Finland. A film, based on the second novel, Hippos, directed by Dome Karukoski, will premiere in 2026.
Marko Hautala, the master of Finnish literary horror, masterfully weaves supernatural elements into a gripping, atmospheric thriller of endurance and survival in the recently published The Book of Samael (Samaelin kirja). Set against the brutal landscape of the 1930s Finnish west coast, The Book of Samael plunges readers into a harrowing tale of survival.
Two established Icelandic children’s book authors join forces as duo Arndís & Hulda present a light-hearted, cosy crime novel, Murder After High Mass (Morð og messufall), their first work of adult fiction. This unputdownable novel, with memorable characters and surprising twists, follows Sif, who stumbles across a dead body in the local church and is offered a temporary position as a churchwarden. Soon, Sif realises that not everything is what it seems in the parish.
Acclaimed criminologist and crime writer Jenny Rogneby returns with a pacy new series, The Interrogators, focusing on a new police unit of interrogators solving serious crimes. The Marked Children (De märkta barnen), the first book in the series featuring police interrogators Annie Altin and Alexander Tilly, will be published by Bookmark in November.
Highlights in Non-Fiction
In our range of non-fiction titles, we have Sophia Jansson’s powerful family memoir, Three Islands, (Tre öar) which is a profoundly touching and intimate account of growing up in an artist family. It navigates through a landscape of memories – a route that leads to Tonga, Ibiza and an island in the Gulf of Finland.
Art historian Tuula Karjalainen’s Dear Tove: Letters From Children Around the World (Tove ja maailman lapset), the companion volume to her 2013 biography, Tove Jansson: Work and Love, is a deeply immersive and in-depth analysis of Tove Jansson’s roles, thoughts, and character. A must-read for all Tove Jansson and Moomin fans who never got around to writing to Tove. It is more than a biography — it’s a fascinating in-depth exploration of empathy, kindness and comfort.
In her newest masterly must-read Malin Kivelä explores her complex and complicated relationship with nature. Sveriges Radio praises the Nature Wreckers (Naturhaverierna) as “a personal and mind-expanding research journey.”
Coding educator Linda Liukas’ history of computer science, To See the World in a Grain of Sand (Nähdä maailma hiekanjyvässä) unravels the human stories behind computers – from the first line of code to the birth of the bit – revealing how these breakthroughs shaped our world and where technology is taking us next.
Maria Trolle is back with two new colouring books. In Seasons (Årstider), Trolle interprets and draws inspiration from the cyclical nature of the year and its changing seasons. In The Colors of Christmas (Julens alla färger) she captures the magic and atmosphere of the festive season and offers moments of calm amidst the Christmas rush.
Moominvalley Knits offers a Moominous collection of inspiring knitting patterns featuring Tove Jansson’s beloved Moomin characters. Eight local knitwear designers have designed lovely Moomin-themed jumpers, cardigans and accessories for the entire family.
Browse the full catalogues here.
Next week, our Literary Agents will be present at the Frankfurt Book Fair, at the Rights & Brands stand with the Nordic countries in Hall 4.1, stand B14.
