The Night in Whistler’s Painting

A fascinating novel that shows our dreams, our fears, and behind them, a luminous love.

The narrator is convinced that he only has one year left to live. He has then decided to produce a book about butterflies with the print techniques of the 17th century to leave behind something beautiful to the world.
He travels to the Yorkshire coast to meet his penfriend Sergei, a Russian immigrant and butterfly collector who lives a secluded life.

During these autumn days in Sergei’s house, near the butterfly collection and under the spell of James McNeill Whistler’s nocturne, both men reveal their most hurtful memories. The narrator remembers his ill mother and his closest friend Saara, who died a year ago in a car accident. Sergei speaks about philosophy, art and history, and tells the story of his own family as well as of a past love.

Publishing information

Year of publication

2023

Page count

175

Original title

Yö Whistlerin maalauksessa

Original language

Finnish

Original publisher

Otava

About the author

Joel Haahtela (b. 1972) is an author and psychiatrist. He was inspired to specialise in psychiatry after reading Oliver Sacks’ book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.The author has been recognized with two Finlandia Prize nominations and has also been nominated for the Runeberg Prize for literature two times. People’s stories are important to him in both of his professions, and the self is a key theme in his writing. Haahtela aspires to understand the human condition and the meaning of people’s own decisions in their lives. His parallel careers complement each other very well and Haahtela believes he will never stop writing. When he was still a student, Joel Haahtela published a collection of short stories titled Unicum Zwack together with friends. These short stories gave him the impetus to write a novel during his studies. His debut novel, Twice Disappeared, was published in the spring of 1999.In 2023, Joel Haahtela was awarded the Veijo Meri prize, a recognition by the Otava Literary Foundation for significant efforts in Finnish literature.

Author page

Reviews

"Joel Haahtela once again offers a reading experience which you would like to cherish and keep to yourself and, on the other hand, proclaim out loud and widely. The master of comfort books affects us again."

Tuijata. Kulttuuripohdintoja Blog

"It seems that Haahtela’s text captures something that is below the surface, which is why his books are so calming in a gentle way. The Night in Whistler’s Painting, however, is not mere philosophising – it also depicts love and friendship, memories and childhood, a father and a mother. "

Kirsin Book Club

"The story moves effortlessly, the language is genius, and the reader is handed a variety of knowledge."

Satakunnan Kansa

"I admire Haahtela’s writing style. He writes about great and profound life wisdoms with simple, ordinary words, without preaching and haste. I admire the way he refers to the immaterial and the invisible beyond the material world. The way he describes the indescribable, and how he manages to make both present at the same time."

Kirjavinkit

"Haahtela’s message is comforting. “Whistler’s night” is not darkness nor emptiness, instead it can be a friend, like an open gate from which there is a gleaming light that is love."

Kulttuuritoimitus

(...)Night in Whistler's Painting is a familiar and guaranteed philosophical fiction by Haahtela."

Helsingin Sanomat newspaper