Things that Fall from the Sky: Longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award, 2021

A young girl loses her mother when a block of ice falls from the sky. A woman wins the lottery jackpot twice in a row. A man is struck by lightning five times. They are all searching for an explanation for these random events, for a way to come to terms with the unexpected turns their lives have taken. After her mother’s death, Saara and her father move in with her Auntie Annu. While Saara dwells on all the things that are left unfinished when someone dies – from gardening and house renovations to bedtime stories – her dad is overwhelmed with anger. Annu keeps the family going, until she wins her second lottery jackpot, and falls into a deep sleep. Things that Fall from the Sky is a story of everyday life, a meditation on the passing of time, the endurance of love and the inevitability of change. This prize-winning novel by one of Finland’s best-loved writers is touching readers’ hearts all over the world.

About the Author :
Selja Ahava is a novelist and a scriptwriter. Her acclaimed debut novel The Day the Whale Swam through London (2010) was nominated for the Helsingin Sanomat Literary Prize, and won the Laura Hirvisaari Prize (the Bookseller’s Literary Prize) in 2010. Her second novel, Things that Fall from the Sky (2015) won the EU Prize for Literature in 2016, and was nominated for the Finlandia Prize and the Tulenkantajat Prize. Emily Jeremiah and Fleur Jeremiah are the translators of Aki Ollikainen's White Hunger (Pereine Press, 2015), which was longlisted for the 2016 Man Booker International Prize. Their other co-translations include Asko Sahlberg’s The Brothers (Peirene Press, 2012).

Review :
‘Leaves other tales told from a child's-eye view in the dust... An intricate and tender novel.’ ‘A whimsical and thoughtful rumination on the terrifying randomness that dictates the course of a life... Ahava’s rendering of Saara recalls the first-person intimacy of Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2003) and serves as an example of what strong writers can do with simple sentences.’ ‘A literary fairy tale... People who live in cold climates need stories that can be spun and unspun around warm hearths.’ ‘Ahava embraces the eccentricities of her characters and the role of randomness in the novel's plot, pivoting from a meditation on grief into something closer in tone to the Ricky Jay-narrated prologue of Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia.’ ‘It’s not hard to see why Things that Fall from the Sky won the EU Prize for Literature. Ahava has created a poignant tale about disrupted lives, ruptured identities, grief on hold, the desire to be understood and the human need for closure.’ ‘A poignant tale about what shapes our identity and choices.’ 'Selja Ahava's quiet, suggestive second novel calls to mind a fairy tale...the narrative is both light and poetic, naive and wise – quite wonderful.' 'Selja Ahava tells the story of characters desperately searching for meaning in gentle and poetic prose that nonetheless remains razor-sharp.' ‘A tender, bittersweet work on the micro-tragedies in life, the roll of chance in all our fates, and the sorrows that mark our journeys through life.’ ‘A wonderful gem of a book... It's tragic and it's humorous, it's frightening and it's inspiring. This is a high quality novel by an accomplished author.’ Praise for Before My Husband Disappears: 'Selja Ahava's third novel, based on her own experiences, is an overwhelmingly honest, precise and wise story of letting go, of memories, sorrow and of life's unexpected twists.' Praise for Before My Husband Disappears: 'Before My Husband Disappears is a victory of literary art, exactly the kind of victory that one would like to see more of: masterly, beautiful and heartbreakingly touching.' ‘Things that Fall from the Sky underscores the arbitrariness, absurdity, excess, and fatefulness of life. It is so unsettling that it makes you laugh... Ahava succeeds in depicting the human mind, for which any unexpected change can...force one to reflect on existential questions.’ Praise for Before My Husband Disappears: 'Before My Husband Disappears is a beautiful, important and timely novel.' 'A stunning narrative exploring the unexpected and inexplicable nature of reality.'