- Series: The Helsinki Trilogy #2
- Imprint: Penguin Classics
- ISBN: 9780241730072
- Length: 256 pages
- Price: £12.99
Backlight
byPirkko Saisio, Mia Spangenberg (Translator)
Irène Bluche, rbbKulturLike Annie Ernaux but funny
NZZ am Sonntag, Best Books of the CenturyThis is both family history and contemporary political history, sexual self-discovery and artist biography… moving and clever, funny and beautiful
Le Masque et la plumeIf you love Deborah Levy, you'll adore Pirkko Saisio
Niina Pollari, Los Angeles Review of BooksLong an object of study in Finland, Saisio’s work is beginning to gain more global recognition now, cementing her place in the canon of autofiction that also includes the Nordic writers Karl Ove Knausgaard and Tove Ditlevsen
About Pirkko Saisio
Pirkko Saisio (born 1949) is one of Finland’s most celebrated writers as well as an actor and theatre director. The author of numerous novels, plays and scripts for film and television, Saisio has been nominated for the Finlandia Prize seven times, winning it in 2003. She has, among other awards, received the Aleksis Kivi Prize and the State Literature Award. Lowest Common Denominator is the first volume in her Helsinki trilogy, followed by Backlight and The Red Book of Farewells.
Details
All editions
- Paperback 2026
- Ebook 2026