KEY POINTS:
THE BURNT-OUT TOWN OF MIRACLES
By Roy Jacobsen
John Murray, $38.99
It's a 40-below winter in the Finnish town of Suomussalmi in 1939 and the Russians are coming. The inhabitants are fleeing but village woodcutter Timo sets up home in an abandoned house and calmly waits for the enemy to arrive.
In this story of a simple man's tale of survival, set against a real-life victory for the Finns at the start of the war, Timo is sent to the Russian camp in Suomussalmi and thrown together with a handful of emaciated Russian peasants.
Timo's own struggle for survival becomes a voyage of enlightenment as he takes Russian peasants under his wing.
The man once treated as the village fool is worshipped by these men as their saviour.
This beautifully written story from one of Norway's top authors tells a tale of hope for humanity amid violence and chaos.
