11 September 2025
Welcome to New Author Ulla Rask
We are delighted to welcome Finnish writer Ulla Rask with her historical fiction series opener, Blanka, Daughter of the Baltic Sea (Blanka, Itämeren tytär) to the agency.
Ulla Rask’s debut novel, first published in Finnish by WSOY in January 2025 quickly became a critical and commercial success, (“A new star in the genre is born…” – Helsingin Sanomat; “Fresh and realistic” – Turun Sanomat; “Absorbing” – Me Naiset magazine) with 25,000 copies sold to date and a rapid ascent to the top of the Finnish bestseller list.
Blanka, Daughter of the Baltic Sea opens a suspenseful, historical novel series that links together the Hanseatic League cities across the Baltic Sea region, perilous seafaring, love and people’s fates during the turbulent 17th century. It builds a picture of women who may have had no rights at the time but were in full possession of courage, ingenuity and the ability to love.
Pitched as Buddenbrooks-with-a-female-gaze for fans of Philippa Gregory, Ken Follett, and Sigrid Undset, the story begins in Reval (Tallinn) in 1606, with the wedding of a Hanseatic merchant, Karl Johann Krause and Dorothea Berger. The bride succumbs to a fatal fever on her wedding night, and her younger sister, eighteen-year-old Blanka Berger, must step into Dorothea’s shoes as the second wife of Krause, their merchant father’s business associate in the North German city of Lübeck. As spring arrives, Blanka and her maid, Margo set sail for Lübeck, but their journey takes an unexpected turn when they are kidnapped and held hostage for ransom on Gotland. Blanka takes matters into her own hands and she and Margo make a daring escape to reach Lübeck and the new life that awaits them there.
Ulla Rask studied Finnish literature, history and creative writing before forging a career in law and, subsequently as a communications executive in the sustainable energy sector. The author of one previous, non-fiction title, Blanka, Daughter of the Baltic Sea is Ulla Rask’s fiction debut and which will be followed up by In the Shadow of the Seven Spires (Seitsemän tornin varjoissa) by WSOY in February 2026. Find out more about the author here.
Rights & Brands represents both translation and film & tv rights to the series. For rights enquiries, please get in touch with us! publishing@rightsandbrands.com
