Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: The Exiled
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 9/8/1970
WEBSITE: http://www.katihiekkapelto.com/
CITY: Hailuoto
STATE:
COUNTRY: Finland
NATIONALITY: Finnish
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: n 2013071066
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/n2013071066
HEADING: Hiekkapelto, Kati, 1970-
000 00397cz a2200133n 450
001 9420380
005 20170225142519.0
008 131202n| azannaabn |n aaa
010 __ |a n 2013071066
040 __ |a DLC |b eng |c DLC |e rda
053 _0 |a PH356.H54
100 1_ |a Hiekkapelto, Kati, |d 1970-
670 __ |a Kolibri, 2013: |b t.p. (Kati Hiekkapelto)
670 __ |a FENNICA database, Dec 2, 2013: |b (hdg.: Hiekkapelto, Kati, 1970-)
PERSONAL
Born September 8, 1970, in Oulu, Finland.
EDUCATION:Attended Liminka Art School and University of Jyväskylä.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, educator, musician. Special-needs teacher for immigrant children, Finland; member of punk band Parrakas nainen (The Bearded Woman).
AWARDS:Best Finnish Crime Novel of the Year, 2014, for The Defenceless.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Finnish author Kati Hiekkapelto broke into the Nordic noir scene with her 2013 work Kolibri, published in English the following year as The Hummingbird. The book is the first in a series of suspense novels featuring Senior Constable Anna Fekete, who is a Hungarian originally from Serbia, a country she fled during the Balkan wars. Anna has been in Finland since she was a child and often portrays the difficulties and challenges of being an outsider. Hiekkapelto has written three novels in this well-received series. The second installment, The Defenceless, was published in Finalnd in 2014, earning the author the prize for the best Finnish Crime Novel of the Year. This was followed by The Exiled.
Hiekkapelto lives on an island in the Gulf of Bothnia off northern Finland in a two-centuries-old farmhouse. “During long, dark winter months she chops wood to heat her house, shovels snow and skis,” a biographer noted on the author’s website. “Writing seems fairly easy, after all that.” Also on her website, Hiekkapelto remarked that by the age of two she was already making stories and recording them on tape. As an adolescent, she was imagining herself solving local mysteries, and by the age of twelve she had made her way through the novels of Agatha Christie. She studied at a fine arts school and earned a degree in special education from the University of Jyväskylä, writing her dissertation on racist bullying in the schools of Finland. Thereafter, she began working as a special-needs teacher, working largely with immigrant children.
By the time she sat down to write her first novel, Hiekkapelto was in her early forties and had a teaching career as well as a gig with a punk rock band. Then one day she thought it would be fun to write crime fiction, as she enjoyed reading it so much. In an interview in the online Shots magazine with S.J.I. Holliday, the author commented: “I realised that I wanted the main character to be a female immigrant and that is how it began. I was sitting on the ferry. I came from work—I live on an island—I got this idea, and then I started to think about it. But back then I didn’t have time to write because I was working, and family and everything, but this was haunting me so badly that I had to figure out how would I do it, so I took a [sabbatical] year from my work, and then I approached it.”
Speaking with Martin Doyle in the Irish Times Online, Hiekkapelto described her writing routine: “I write in my house, which is a typical old Finnish farmhouse, built in 1844. I usually start in the morning and work for about four hours. After that I check my emails and do other things, like background research. Sometimes I go away for a week, to my aunt’s cottage in Lapland or somewhere, to be able to write and immerse myself in my book in peace—day and night.” In a Crime Fiction Lover website interview, Hiekkapelto commented on why Finnish crime fiction has not flourished as has such fiction from the Scandinavian countries. Hiekkapelto noted: “There are many reasons for this. First, other Nordic countries have a longer experience of marketing and producing hits, not just writing, but also music and design. Second, of course, translation. Our language is fundamentally different from the Scandinavian languages, which are related to English, so naturally have more good translators. In Finland we have a lack of good translators. Thirdly, our history is also fundamentally different and that has influenced the writing style too. Finland is still a bit raw and wild, but that makes it fascinating … at least to me.”
The Hummingbird and The Defenceless
Hiekkapelto’s debut novel, The Hummingbird, introduces Anna Fekete, who begins work as a criminal investigator in a Finnish coastal town in the north of the country. She is partnered with a man named Esko Niemi, a racist and misogynist who makes no attempt to hide his prejudices. New to the job, Anna is immediately thrust into the national spotlight with a high-profile case involving a serial killer whose first victim, a young woman, is found murdered on a running trail. A pendant depicting an Aztec god is found on her body. Then more murders ensue, all pointing to the same killer, who the media dub the Hummingbird. It is now a race against time for Anna and Esko—who begins to appreciate Anna’s professionalism and loyalty—before more murders take place. Writing in the MBR Bookwatch, Mary Cowper “enthusiastically recommended” this novel for mystery collections. Similarly, a Publishers Weekly reviewer found that this “brooding debut … tilts heroically at such vexing ills as racial prejudice, alcoholism, and domestic abuse.” The reviewer added that this first installment “promises tough and powerful crime fiction to come.”
The second in the series, The Defenceless, focuses on undocumented migration as well as drugs and gangs. Anna Fekete investigates a case in which a man has been run down on the road, apparently by an au pair from Hungary. Anna, however, thinks there is much more to this. Her investigations lead her into illegal immigration, drugs, and murder. Meanwhile, her partner Esko is focusing on a case involving an immigrant gang and deportation orders. Soon these two investigations dovetail in deadly ways. “Hiekkapelto sensitively portrays Anna’s search for meaning in her life,” noted a Publishers Weekly reviewer of this award-winning novel.
The Exiled
The Exiled once again focuses on racial tension and immigration, but this time away from Anna’s adopted country of Finland. Anna travels back to her native Balkan village of Kaniza for a vacation. At a wine festival, someone steals her purse. This is later returned by a former colleague of her father, the retired policeman Gabor Kovacs. He explains that it was retrieved with the body of the thief, who has apparently drowned. But when Anna asks to see the body and the scene, her request is refused. Growing curious, Anna seeks the help of a local policeman and their subsequent investigation turns up corruption from long ago as well as people-smuggling.
“Repeated clashes between Anna’s Finnish upbringing and her Hungarian heritage add spice … [to this] intriguing third Anna Fekete novel,” according to a Publishers Weekly reviewer. A New Internationalist contributor also had praise, commenting: “Finnish author Kati Hiekkapelto covers dark subjects with a light touch, making this an enjoyable, suspenseful read.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
MBR Bookwatch, October, 2015, Cowper, Mary Cowper, review of The Hummingbird.
New Internationalist, January-February, 2017, review of The Exiled, p. 42.
Publishers Weekly, April 27, 2015, review of The Hummingbird, p. 53; February 22, 2016, review of The Defenceless, p. 69; December 5, 2016, review of The Exiled, p. 52.
ONLINE
Crime Fiction Lover, https://crimefictionlover.com/ (August 12, 2015), author interview.
Irish Times Online, https://www.irishtimes.com/ (September 22, 2015), Martin Doyle, author interview.
Kati Hiekkapelto Website, http://www.katihiekkapelto.com (September 11, 2017).
Lucy V. Hay Website, http://www.lucyvhayauthor.com/ (November 17, 2016), Lucy Hay, “Criminally Good: Interview with Author Kati Hiekkapelto.”
New Internationalist, https://newint.org/ (March 1, 2017), Jo Lateu, “A Word with Kati Hiekkapelto.”
Reactions to Reading, https://reactionstoreading.com/ (April 22, 2017), review of The Exiled.
Shots Magazine, http://www.shotsmag.co.uk/ (September 11, 2017), S.J.I. Holliday, “At the Bar with Kati Hiekkapelto.”
Vicky Newham Website, https://vickynewhamwriter.com/ (June 7, 2015), Vicky Newham, review of The Hummingbird.*
QUOTE:
During long, dark winter months she chops wood to heat her house, shovels snow and skis. Writing seems fairly easy, after all that.
KATI HIEKKAPELTO
NEWSBIOGRAPHYBOOKSREVIEWSMEDIACONTACT
BIOGRAPHY
Kati Hiekkapelto was born in 1970 in Oulu, Finland. She made up her first stories at the age of two and recorded them on cassette tapes. The main characters in these early tales were elephants, elves and little girls. Kati worked as a local private detective between 1979 and 1982, and solved many serious crimes committed by her neighbours. By the age of twelve she had read all Agatha Christie’s novels, and was sure that her mother is going to poison her. In 1984 she had a bad hairdresser experience and became a punker. She´s been punker, environmental and human rights activist since then.
Kati has studied Fine Arts in Liminka Art School and Special Education at the University of Jyväskylä. The subject of her master’s thesis was racist bullying in Finnish schools. She went on to work as a special-needs teacher for immigrant children.
Today Kati is an international crime writer, punk singer and performance artist. Kolibri (The Hummingbird) was published in Finland by Otava in 2013 and Suojattomat (The Defenceless) in 2014. To date, they have been translated into seven languages. The Hummingbird was shortlisted for the Petrona Award in the UK in 2015 andThe Defenceless won the prize for the best Finnish Crime Novel of the Year 2014. The Defenceless was one of the top ten bestselling books in Finland last year, across all genres.
The main character in her books is a Senior Constable Anna Fekete. She is Hungarian, originally from Serbia, and she fled the Yugoslavian wars to emigrate to Finland when she was a child. Some of the key themes in Kati´s books are immigration and racism, and the experience of being an outsider. Her aim is to explore social and political themes through entertaining, page-turning crime stories, making her a natural successor to the socially aware Nordic Noir tradition started by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. Kati has lived in Hungarian parts of Serbia herself and she speaks fluent Hungarian.
At the moment Kati is working on her third Anna Fekete novel, which will be published in Finland by Otava in Spring 2016. She lives and writes in her 200-year-old farmhouse in Hailuoto, an island in the Gulf of Bothnia, North Finland. In her free time she rehearses with her band, runs, hunts, picks berries and mushrooms, and gardens. During long, dark winter months she chops wood to heat her house, shovels snow and skis. Writing seems fairly easy, after all that.
Kati Hiekkapelto
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kati Hiekkapelto
Born September 8, 1970 (age 47)
Oulu, Finland
Language Finnish
Nationality Finland
Genre Crime, fiction, Nordic Noir[1][2]
Website
www.katihiekkapelto.com
Kati Hiekkapelto (born 8 September 1970 in Oulu, Finland) is a Finnish novelist, performance artist and punk singer.
Contents [hide]
1 Career
2 Bibliography
3 References
4 External links
Career[edit]
Following her studies in special education, Hiekkapelto worked as a special-needs teacher for a time in Serbia among its minority Hungarian population.[3]
In 2013, Hiekkapelto published her first novel, Kolibri (Hummingbird). Its protagonist, a police detective, Anna Fekete, is an immigrant to Finland from the erstwhile Yugoslavia. The book was a critical as well as popular success, and has been translated into several languages, including English and German.
A sequel Suojattomat (The Defenceless) came out in 2015. It won the Finnish prize Vuoden johtolanka for crime fiction.[4]
The third book in the series, Tumma (The Exiled) was published in 2016.
Hiekkapelto lives on Hailuoto, an island in northern Finland.[3]
Hiekkapelto performs in a punk band Parrakas nainen (The Bearded Woman).[5]
Bibliography[edit]
Hummingbird. Translated by Hackston, David. Arcadia. 2014. ISBN 978-1909807563.
The Defenceless. Translated by Hackston, David. Orenda Books. 2015. ISBN 978-1910633137.
The Exiled. Translated by Hackston, David. Orenda Books. 2016. ISBN 978-1910633519.
References[edit]
Jump up ^ "Kati Hiekkapelto". Goodreads.
Jump up ^ Armitstead, Presented by Richard Lea with Claire; Tresilian, and produced by Susannah (25 November 2016). "Nordic noir with Kati Hiekkapelto and Antti Tuomainen – books podcast" – via The Guardian.
^ Jump up to: a b Martin Doyle (22 September 2015). "Kati Hiekkapelto: ‘I have visited so many cultures, minds and emotions through reading’". The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
Jump up ^ Satu Nurmio (11 February 2015). "Vuoden johtolanka -palkinto Kati Hiekkapellolle" (in Finnish). YLE. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
Jump up ^ Suvi Niemi (16 May 2016). "Muutto maalle synnytti rikosromaanin – kovilla pakkasilla kirja syntyi kylpyhuoneessa" (in Finnish). Maaseudun Tulevaisuus. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
External links[edit]
Kati Hiekkapelto's official website
Authority control
WorldCat Identities VIAF: 305856693 LCCN: n2013071066 ISNI: 0000 0004 2337 5817 GND: 1063217660
Categories: People from Oulu1970 birthsFinnish women writersLiving peopleFinnish musiciansFinnish expatriates in Serbia
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QUOTE:
there are many reasons for this. First, other Nordic countries have a longer experience of marketing and producing hits, not just writing, but also music and design. Second, of course, translation. Our language is fundamentally different from the Scandinavian languages, which are related to English, so naturally have more good translators. In Finland we have a lack of good translators. Thirdly, our history is also fundamentally different and that has influenced the writing style too. Finland is still a bit raw and wild, but that makes it fascinating… at least to me.
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Crime Fiction LoverFeaturesInterview: Kati Hiekkapelto
INTERVIEW: KATI HIEKKAPELTO
August 12, 2015 Written by MarinaSofia Published in Features 4 comments Permalink
katihiekkapelto875Scandinavian crime fiction carries on booming, but the Finns are settled there just on the edge. As a people, lots of them don’t associate themselves with the rest of Scandinavia (though lots do). In terms of crime fiction, there haven’t really been any breakout superstars from Finland yet – unlike Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. Kati Hiekkapelto and Antti Tuomainen are changing all of that. Hiekkapelto’s debut The Hummingbird introduced us to the feisty rookie detective Anna Fekete last year, and just recently her second novel, The Defenceless, arrived. She’s a clear talent and has helped raise the flag for the Finns in the world of crime fiction. We decided to ask her more about her books…
Can you tell us about The Defenceless in a nutshell?
The Defenceless is a story of undocumented migration, drugs and gangs. It’s hard to describe the book without revealing too much. I was thinking a lot about home when I wrote it: what makes a place home, where do we most feel at home, and the many people in the world who either don´t have a home or cannot go there. But the most important aspect for me as a crime writer is a good murder story! I hope I’ve succeeded in that. Of course it would be ideal to read The Hummingbird and then The Defenceless, but it’s not compulsory. They are independent stories.
defenceless200Was it harder or easier to write your second novel?
Both. Easier, because I already had the main characters and knew more about my writing process. For example, I knew that if I get stuck for whatever reason, I just have to wait, think a lot about the text, walk a lot, and the right solution will be found.
Harder, because of greater external pressure. Everybody, including myself, had much higher expectations. I tried not to think about that but only write as well and as honestly as I could. I also have to delve deeper into Anna’s mind and life every time, which is really interesting but not always easy.
Tell us more about Anna and Esko, the police partners and lead characters in the novel?
Anna is a young immigrant woman and Esko is a middle-aged racist man. Both are quite opinionated and hard-working loners. Anna is a very independent woman, she does not miss having a relationship, or at least would never admit it, but she does miss having a real home. She does not feel she belongs to Finland. She has adapted well, speaks perfect Finnish, et cetera, but still feels like an outsider. But she no longer belongs to Yugoslavia either, which in any case is a country that does not exist anymore.
Esko has a severe alcohol problem and associated health problems. He is a misogynist and can be really disgusting. At first he is really nasty to Anna but when he notices how good Anna is at her job and how loyal she is to him, he starts to accept her, to see her as a person not just an immigrant. Little by little these two establish a kind of friendship, although I don’t think Esko will ever change completely.
Why did you decide to address the issue of immigration in your novels?
It is a very sensitive topics everywhere. Hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing their countries and trying to come to Europe, millions are living in refugee camps or suffering in their home countries from poverty, wars and oppression. However, I didn’t consciously choose the topic nor the crime fiction genre. The topic chose me. I have a lot of knowledge about it, both professional and personal, so it was easy to write about. Crime was just a sudden idea. I had always read a lot of crime fiction and thought it would be cool to write a crime novel of my own.
hummingbirdWhy do you think Finnish crime fiction hasn’t flourished as much as the crime books from your neighbouring Scandinavian countries?
I think there are many reasons for this. First, other Nordic countries have a longer experience of marketing and producing hits, not just writing, but also music and design. Second, of course, translation. Our language is fundamentally different from the Scandinavian languages, which are related to English, so naturally have more good translators. In Finland we have a lack of good translators. Thirdly, our history is also fundamentally different and that has influenced the writing style too. Finland is still a bit raw and wild, but that makes it fascinating… at least to me.
Why the wedding dress in your author picture?
Haha! It is my old wedding dress and now mostly my alter ego’s outfit. She is called Ginger and she is my bad side. I just realised that it is Ginger who prevents me from reading more in English. I also do ecofeminist performances sometimes in that dress.
Finally, what are you working on now?
The third Anna Fekete novel is coming out in Finland next spring and I still have a lot of work to do on it. My punk band has some gigs in autumn, so we have to practise and write a couple of new songs. I mainly write the lyrics. I’m also planning to write a play at some point, but it’s a long project and I only get a chance to work on it when I have some spare time. which is hardly ever.
For more Scandinavian crime fiction, click here.
TAGGED UNDER
Anna Fekete Finland immigration Kati Hiekkapelto Scandinavian crime fiction The Defenceless
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4 COMMENTS
Anne Hietala August 12, 2015 at 9:10 pm Reply
Excellent interview. Hiekkapelto and Tuomainen are quite remarkable Finnish crime authors, no doubt about that. As a matter of fact, there might be even some more expectations according to “Nordic Noir” masters – a third Finn, to date still some what less known, but again a really strong runner up.
Watch for the name Max Manner, who writes about a Norwegian cop Stein Storesen based in Turku, Finland.
The last novel in Storesen-series (published in 2015) Jääkyynel, “Tears of ice”, takes place mostly in Lappland and Murmansk, Russia. My bet is Manner might be the real game changer, who’ll finally brakes the ice internationally for the Finns.
crimefictionlover August 12, 2015 at 9:13 pm Reply
Thanks for that tip. We will definitely look out for him. Maybe a publisher with plans to translate is reading this very website?
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QUOTE:
I write in my house, which is a typical old Finnish farmhouse, built in 1844. I usually start in the morning and work for about four hours. After that I check my emails and do other things, like background research. Sometimes I go away for a week, to my aunt’s cottage in Lapland or somewhere, to be able to write and immerse myself in my book in peace – day and night.
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Kati Hiekkapelto: ‘I have visited so many cultures, minds and emotions through reading’
‘I don’t particularly like doing background research. I would love just to imagine everything. However, since I write about police work, I have to get the facts straight’
Tue, Sep 22, 2015, 16:04
Martin Doyle
Kati Hiekkapelto: When I wrote my books I had a short message in my phone that popped up every time I turned it on. It read: ‘You can do it!’ Now I can proudly think: Yes, I did!
Kati Hiekkapelto: When I wrote my books I had a short message in my phone that popped up every time I turned it on. It read: ‘You can do it!’ Now I can proudly think: Yes, I did!
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What was the first book to make an impression on you?
Papillon. I was about 12 when I read it. A good story about inhuman prison conditions and escaping inmates – it made a deep impression on me.
What was your favourite book as a child?
I loved poems by Kirsi Kunnas and stories by Elina Karjalainen. All of Astrid Lindgren’s book were favourites, too.
And what is your favourite book or books now?
There are far too many to name just a few… I always feel bad – a little like a traitor – if I have to choose just a few. At a push, I’d say Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Nadeem Aslam’s Wasted Vigil and Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family, and many, many Finnish books.
What is your favourite quotation?
I don’t really quote – mainly because I can never remember any of the good ones. The same with jokes!
Who is your favourite fictional character?
Pippi Longstocking. As a child, I would dream that I was Pippi – and that I could fly.
Who is the most under-rated Irish author?
Flann O’Brien perhaps.
Which do you prefer – ebooks or the traditional print version?
I always read print. I like the touch of the book, the smell of the paper, the sound when turning pages.
What is the most beautiful book you own?
Neko by Rosa Liksom and Klaus Haapaniemi. It is an amazingly, beautifully illustrated tale about Japanese samurai culture, justice, freedom and love.
Where and how do you write?
I write in my house, which is a typical old Finnish farmhouse, built in 1844. I usually start in the morning and work for about four hours. After that I check my emails and do other things, like background research. Sometimes I go away for a week, to my aunt’s cottage in Lapland or somewhere, to be able to write and immerse myself in my book in peace – day and night.
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What book changed the way you think about fiction?
A Clockwork Orange.
What is the most research you have done for a book?
I don’t particularly like doing background research. I would love just to imagine everything. However, since I write about police work, I have to get the facts straight. I’ve read the laws concerning police and I’ve met and interviewed many police officers. I have my contacts in Finnish police force and if and when I need to know something, I can get a pretty instant answer. At the moment I’m waiting for permission to visit a prison in Subotica, Serbia. I need to get inside for my next novel. I’m going to travel to Serbia this year to write and research.
What book influenced you the most?
Anna Karenina.
What book would you give to a friend’s child on their 18th birthday?
James Joyce’s Ulysses. It would be a great gift! But maybe A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man would be cooler for that age.
What book do you wish you had read when you were young?
Yoko Ono’s Grapefruit. An absolutely stunning piece of art!
What advice would you give to an aspiring author?
Believe in yourself and your work even it is hard sometimes (or almost all the time). Show your writing to someone, but don’t be dragged down by critcism. Always have a piece of paper and a pen with you, especially beside your bed. Be honest with yourself and true to your values. Don’t give up. Read, read and read.
What weight do you give reviews?
They are important, of course, but I try to be relaxed about them. I have a simple attitude: I’m happy about the good ones and ignore the shitty ones. After all, you can’t please everyone – ever.
Where do you see the publishing industry going?
I don’t think about it much, but I really hope it is not going the way music business did.
What writing trends have struck you lately?
Tweeting. I just don’t get it but I’m working on it!
What lessons have you learned about life from reading?
I have visited so many universes, countries, cities, cultures, homes, bodies, minds and emotions through reading that it is impossible to mention anything particular. I have learned life. I have experienced almost everything, even things that are beyond our reality, by simply lying in bed with a book. Isn’t that amazing!
What has being a writer taught you?
Patience, perseverance, tolerance of uncertainty. A combination of diligence and laziness is crucial. I have learned the importance of stretching my back and moving my ass every half an hour when writing.
Which writers, living or dead, would you invite to your dream dinner party?
Henry Miller, Anaïs Nin, Charles Bukowski, Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Verlaine, Georges Sand and Rumi. Ha ha! That would be a cool party!
What is the funniest scene you’ve read?
Probably something from a book like Jokes for Schoolchildren. Unfortunately, I can’t remember any of them (see above).
What is your favourite word?
Hangya. It is an ant in Hungarian. I like how it feels to pronounce it; it is soft and warm.
If you were to write a historical novel, which event or figure would be your subject?
Something about Jesus’s girlfriend?
What sentence or passage or book are you proudest of?
I’m proud of every punk song I’ve written. And even though I’m not satisfied with every sentence in my two books, I’m really proud of them both. When I wrote them I had a short message in my phone that popped up every time I turned it on. It read: ‘You can do it!’ Now I can proudly think: Yes, I did!
What is the most moving book or passage you have read?
Poets by Edith Södergran, who was a Swedish-speaking Finnish poet who wrote in the early 1900s. I read a lot of poems and I find many of them more touching and moving than prose.
If you have a child, what book did you most enjoy reading to them?
I have read my children so many books it’s a miracle I still have a voice. I particularly enjoyed The Lord of the Rings, although it took quite a long time to read it aloud. The Harry Potters and all my own childhood favourites, including Pippi Longstocking, were fun to read.
Kati Hiekkapelto is a bestselling, award-winning Finnish author, punk singer, performance artist and, formerly, special-needs teacher. She lives on an old farm on the island of Hailuoto in northern Finland (which has been in her family for hundreds of years) with her children and sizable menagerie. Here she is currently setting up an asylum for artists in danger, and houses asylum seekers. Hiekkapelto has taught immigrants and lived in the Hungarian region of Serbia, which inspired her to write her highly-regarded debut crime novel, The Hummingbird. Its sequel, The Defenceless, won Best Finnish Crime Novel of the Year in 2014, and was published by Orenda Books earlier this month. Both books are translated by David Hackston
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Kati Hiekkapelto
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A word with Kati Hiekkapelto
Mar 01, 2017 Finland
The Finnish crime writer and punk singer talks to Jo Lateu about the rise of rightwing populism, the importance of identity, and the embrace of the natural world.
01-03-2017-kh-590.jpegKati Hiekkapelto ©
Who or what inspires you?
I am inspired by nature: birds, plants, light, sea, wind and forests. Nature is the essence of my being. I could not live without the touch of the Earth and the wild. I sometimes think that I am some kind of an animal. I love walking barefoot, lying on the surface of our planet, swimming in its waters, wandering in its woods. I am also inspired by good-hearted and wise people. I am lucky to have a profession where I can meet interesting and inspiring people and find soulmates all around the globe.
Your university dissertation was on racist bullying in Finnish schools. To what extent is racism a problem in Finnish society?
Hate crimes, hate talk... hate is increasing all the time. It is a huge problem not only in Finland but everywhere. Extreme rightwing populism is brainwashing people. Many immigrants can’t get work, or apartments; they fall out of education.
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Do you know what the Finnish government’s response was to the refugee wave Europe is facing? They decided that Somalia, Iraq and Afganistan are ‘safe countries’ and refugees can be returned there. It’s an easy solution, isn’t it? It reveals the extent to which laws and regulations can be used as tools for power and oppression. Just like in Germany in the 1930s.
What are the particular problems immigrant children face?
It’s a disaster for immigrant children to lose their mother tongue. They cannot learn another language well if the foundations of their mother tongue are fragile. And if you don’t have proper language skills, you risk dropping out of education and work. This naturally causes exactly those problems immigrants are accused of creating: crime, packed suburbs and other social problems. Immigrant children are also over-represented in special education in elementary schools. It can be seen as an attempt to help them, of course, but also as marginalizing and labelling them by society and its institutions.
These are only a few of the problems they face. There are many more: bullying; living between the pressures of home culture and the surrounding Western culture. Young girls are guided towards traditionally low-paid ‘female jobs’ by school councillors and not encouraged to study to their full potential.
Anna Fekete, the hero of your novel The Exiled, is an outsider – living in Finland but from Serbia’s Hungarian minority. What role do identity and the feeling of belonging play in our sense of self?
That’s a big question. The short answer is simply that identity and belonging are everything! Humans are pack creatures. Every single person needs roots, family, friends, a strong sense of self and belonging to something to feel alive, to live happily. Why do we so often and so strongly want to forbid this for some individuals or groups?
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Who would you like to banish from the earth and why?
No-one in particular, other than the whole human race, because we damage ourselves, each other and our planet. I don’t think that the Earth needs us for anything especially.
As well as writing, you are a punk singer and performance artist. To what extent do you use these different art forms to put forward a political message?
I don’t write to deliver a political message. I write because writing is my passion. I’m a storyteller, that’s all I want to do. There’s a political message in my writing, for sure, but it is completely up to the reader to take it or leave it. Punk is different, of course. Punk is my political instrument but also a way to have fun, do crazy things, be creative in a lyrical format, or with short poems, and to allow my angry and aggressive side to come out.
Most of my performances I do alone in nature. I like the idea of nobody watching or recording. It is happening in the moment, in peace and quiet. n
The Exiled by Kati Hiekkapelto (Orenda Books) is out now.
Jo Lateu
Having joined New Internationalist in 1998 as distribution manager, Jo moved into the editorial team in 2008, where...
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QUOTE:
I realised that I wanted the main character to be a female immigrant and that is how it began. I was sitting on the ferry, I came from work – I live on an island – I got this idea, and then I started to think about it. But back then I didn’t have time to write because I was working, and family and everything, but this was haunting me so badly that I had to figure out how would I do it, so I took a Sabbath year from my work, and then I approached it.
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At the Bar with: Kati Hiekkapelto
Written by SJI Holliday
At a quiet corner of the bar at The Stirling Highland Hotel, during Bloody Scotland in September 2014, SHOTS caught up with Kati Hiekkapelto - a Finnish writer and artist - and chatted about her novel THE HUMMINGBIRD, amongst other things …
SJIH: Hi Kati, welcome to Shots! Your first novel ‘The Hummingbird’ has already done very well in Finland and it’s out now in English. How does it feel to be bringing your work to a wider audience?
KH: It’s amazing… that it’s here in front of my eyes. It’s quite a miracle for me as they always said it was very hard to get Finnish books published in English, and this just happened quite easily, I think…
SJIH: Are there not many Finnish authors published in English then?
KH: There are others, but no, not many. There are many more Swedish and Norwegian.
SJIH: Can you tell us a bit about it? Where did you get the idea, what made you want to write this book and tell this particular story?
KH: Actually, it was just a sudden idea that ‘Oh it would be great to write crime fiction’ and then secondly, I realised that I wanted the main character to be a female immigrant and that is how it began. I was sitting on the ferry, I came from work – I live on an island – I got this idea, and then I started to think about it. But back then I didn’t have time to write because I was working, and family and everything, but this was haunting me so badly that I had to figure out how would I do it, so I took a Sabbath year from my work, and then I approached it.
SJIH: So you took a whole year off work. Wow. Did you manage to write and edit it all in this time, or did it take you longer?
KH: It took that year, and of course when I got the publisher we had to work a bit more.
SJIH: I think I would feel too much pressure if I took a year out to write, I’d feel like I wouldn’t be able to do it…
KH: But that was also good, because I realised that this was my only opportunity. In Finland we have these regulations that you can have a Sabbath year every fifth year, so I thought if I can’t do it now then I have to wait five more years until I can do it again, so it was now or never.
SJIH: Anna is a very complex character. You mentioned that you had the idea to make her an immigrant, but her background as well – I found it fascinating because it taught me a lot about a part of the world and culture that I didn’t know anything about. Is it because of your work experience, working with immigrants, that you wanted to give a voice to that kind of person? Or was it just because you found her interesting and you thought that this story would work? How did you develop her?
KH: Actually, first I thought that she would be an Afghan woman because I also know something about the Afghanistan situation and Afghan culture and I wanted a feminist approach to be there too, and the situation for women in Afghanistan is, as we all know, very bad. I even started to write the book with this character then realised that, oh, I don’t know enough about this and I’d have to do so much background work. It was too hard, after all. Then I was thinking about what it should be… I wanted her to be somewhere around 30 years old and I wanted her to speak fluent Finnish, so she must have come to Finland when she was a kid – not too small, but not too old – but perfect enough to remember her own language and learn the new – so she had to be something between like 7 and 10, and then I just realised – ha! The Yugoslavian war was then… and, my ex husband is from there, so it’s very close to me. I’ve lived there, in Serbia, I speak fluent Hungarian. It was so close to me that I didn’t realise it immediately. When I figured out that this was the solution, I was so relieved! This is it, yes… this is how it should be: she is a Hungarian, from Yugoslavia.
SJIH: I read up a bit on your work and I think you did your thesis on racism and immigration. You brought this in, obviously, with the character of Esko (I thought he was horrible, but then realised that actually, he’s not that bad). Was it important for you to use a character like that, to put that message across as well?
KH: Unfortunately we have these kind of men in Finland, these, I would say ‘red neck’ types. It was important to me also because I wanted to somehow challenge my own prejudice because I think that there are also humanist assholes in the world! Not only this kind of men are assholes. Nobody is totally black and white. In every person there are many dimensions, good and bad – that’s why Esko is a very important character for me. In the second book I will go deeper into his mind.
SJIH: I was hoping that. That’s something I mentioned in my review… that there might be more of Esko and Anna as a partnership, maybe? A fractious partnership. It’s making me think of TV programmes with the two of them, really bouncing off each other. So, the Aztecs – I love stuff like that, the history of these things… did you specifically look for something that you could fit in, or was this something that you already knew about and were interested in? It seemed to be used kind of as a metaphor for serial killers, but also a specific motif with the hummingbird…
KH: Ah, that was also just an idea. I was thinking that… the murder makes it look like a serial killer kind of murders, and why and what would the killer do to make the killings look like that… and I just got the idea that there could be some kind of amulet or necklace or something there. I don’t know where it came from!
SJIH: I think like that because when I’m writing things, I try to find things like this… you can spend hours researching…
KH: I hate that research!
SJIH: It just sucks up all your time forever! So the second book is already out in Finland, and then out here next year?
KH: 2016.
SJIH: Ok, so can you tell us anything about it?
KH: The second book is about illegal immigrants and drugs and immigrant gangs, specifically a gang called ‘Black Cobra’, which is a real gang – they are in Denmark and in Sweden. They are strong, and there has been a real threat that they are spreading to Finland. So this is mainly what it is about. It’s also about going ‘back home’. I was thinking a lot about what is home and how it is different for different people – like for us, we just go home after work and we don’t even think about it. But it’s not like that for many, many people.
SJIH: So obviously Anna and Esko are in the second book, what about Sari and Rauno? Is Anna still working in the same place?
KH: Rauno is not so much in the second book as he is on sick leave after what happened to him. Sari is there – but this is mainly about Esko and Anna.
SJIH: Just to change direction slightly… you have a background in punk… do you write songs? How do you think that helps you with writing prose? Does it translate, or is it completely different?
KH: It’s completely different. It’s more like writing poems, but you know, punk songs are not so difficult poems! I used to write poems when I was a kid, simple poems, and now somehow I feel like I have come back to this childhood poem writing… I write relatively simple words and simple sentences, but they are really strong…
SJIH: Strong messages in small doses? That’s why I was thinking about the similarities with crime writing… Obviously I haven’t heard your lyrics, and as it’s in Finnish I wouldn’t know what you were singing about anyway!
KH: [laughs] Well, we sing about middle-aged women and we think that middle-aged crises are much more inspiring than teenage crises!
SJIH: Definitely! So, we briefly mentioned Scandinavian crime writers… have you been inspired by them to write, or did you just feel that need to write crime? Do you read crime a lot, or is it just something that has come to you? And who do you like to read?
KH: At the moment I don’t read crime fiction at all, since when I started to write The Hummingbird… after that I haven’t read one crime fiction book. I’ve tried, but I just can’t. I don’t know why, but I’m not able to do it, which is sad because I really like them. Maybe one day I can do it again! But yes, I was reading mostly Swedish and Norwegian. Actually, I haven’t read any Finnish crime… or maybe some, but not much.
SJIH: Do you read American writers? Or British? Do you have any favourites or inspirations?
KH: Agatha Christie when I was a child – I read all of hers. Håkan Nesser is one of my favourite Swedish, and Åke Edwardson, and also Steig Laarson, Karin Fossum – from Norway. These are my favourites.
SJIH: What about Jo Nesbo?
KH: Hmm, I like him, but he’s not my favourite.
SJIH: There are so many… it’s nice to have that though – that mixture, so you can learn more about the cultures. Anyway, now for my final question… you might not know the answer yet because maybe you haven’t been asked loads of questions, but what does no one ever ask you that you wish that they would ask you?
KH: I wish that they wouldn’t ask me ‘why are you writing crime fiction’ because everybody asks me that!
SJIH: But it’s really hard not to ask that question!
KH: I really don’t know, I’m sorry! In Finland they are mainly interested in me, and that’s weird for me as I want to write about immigration and how is it to be alien, and nobody ever asks about these things.
SJIH: Well we like both… it’s good to know what made you write the book. But yes, people want to know about you… Nesbo’s like a big star, isn’t he? We don’t really have author ‘stars’ like that here… over here you can just meet everyone in the bar…
KH: [laughs]
SJIH: Thanks Kati, best of luck with The Hummingbird. Looking forward to the next one.
KH: Thank you!
Product Details
The Hummingbird
Arcadia Books (15 Sep 2014)
Pbk £8.99
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CRIMINALLY GOOD: Interview with author Kati Hiekkapelto
On 17th November 2016 · By Lucy Hay · With 0 Comments
kh36741) So, who are you & what have you written?
I am Kati Hiekkapelto, an author from Finland. I have written three crime novels The Hummingbird, The Defenceless and The Exiled. I have been nominated for couple of awards (The Glass Key 2016, The Petrona2015 and 2016, and Icepick 2016) and won one (The Best Finnish Crime Novel of 2015). I also write columns for a couple newspapers, lyrics for my punk band and some of my short stories have been published in a Finnish literary magazine. I have a stage play for the theatre in progress, too.
2) Why do you write crime fiction?
The simple truth is: I don’t know. I could probably write any type of fiction (at the literary end of the scale), I suppose. The thing for me is to write. I love writing; it is my passion, my form of self-expression. I ‘discovered’ writing in my thirties. Before that I thought that painting was my ‘art’. I even went to art school when I was young. But I never had a true passion for painting in the same way that I do writing.
When I started writing my first novel, The Hummingbird, I found myself drawn to the genre and it seemed natural to write in this way. Ive always loved good crime fiction and I really enjoy how great tool this genre is for combining storytelling with social and political issues.
3) What informs your crime writing?exiled-front-cover-copy
Probably my own fears and vivid imagination. If I go driving in dark hours I have to check the back seat of my car for serial killers. I was over 30 when I learned not to be super-scared if sleeping alone. I have always been afraid of darkness. Reading loads of crime fiction at early age didn’t much ease my fears.
4) What’s your usual writing routine?
I try to work in office hours. Work in this case means actual writing. But the story I am working on is in my head all the time. It develops there, mostly unconsciously, day and night. I work at home, which is not necessarily a good thing. It is hard to draw a line between work and free time. Working alone demands also strong self-discipline. Therefore, deadlines are blessing.
5) Which crime book do you wish YOU’D written, and why?
Karin Fossum’s He Who Fears the Wolf. It has an interesting, unusual structure, for a crime novel (I am always analyzing different structural solutions that writers come up with); and it’s well written, with high quality prose (to me the writing is everything; I can’t read books where the writing is not good and I hope that I can’t write one either). It’s a story that makes the reader face her own prejudices and stereotypes about mental illness. A good novel, crime or whatever, gives you something to really think about, and this book does that in spades.
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QUOTE:
Finnish author Kati Hiekkapelto covers dark subjects with a light touch, making this an enjoyable, suspenseful read.
10/1/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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Print Marked Items
The Exiled
New Internationalist.
.499 (January-February 2017): p42.
COPYRIGHT 2017 New Internationalist
http://www.newint.org
Full Text:
The Exiled
by Kati Hiekkapelto, translated by David Hackston (Orenda Books, 9781910633519)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Scandinavian detectives--at least in the hugely popular Nordic noir genre - have a tendency to be troubled loners,
dragging along so much baggage of their own it's a wonder they have the energy to lift their eyes from their navels and
solve multiple grizzly murders. So Kati Hiekkapelto's police detective Anna Fekete is a breath of fresh air. Yes, there
are hints in The Exiled of her personal problems, but Anna is a refreshingly normal 30-something who socializes,
swears like a trooper, has sex-without-strings and voices opinions on social injustice and international current affairs.
Visiting her native Serbia from Finland, where her family settled after the Balkan wars of the 1990s, Anna's bag is
stolen on a night out, and she suddenly finds herself embroiled in a case that involves corrupt officials, refugees, peoplesmuggling
and the mistreatment of the Roma community. Overt racism and silent contempt for the 'other' play a part in
the crime, but are also evident in the ills of the wider society, as Serbia, a country still living in the shadow of its own
ethnic conflict, struggles to cope with the influx of refugees from Syria and Iraq.
Finnish author Kati Hiekkapelto covers dark subjects with a light touch, making this an enjoyable, suspenseful read.
JL orendabooks.co.uk
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Exiled." New Internationalist, Jan.-Feb. 2017, p. 42. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA476562614&it=r&asid=8e6b148293680e495024108f0d52d04d.
Accessed 1 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A476562614
---
QUOTE:
enthusiastically recommended
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The Hummingbird
Mary Cowper
MBR Bookwatch.
(Oct. 2015):
COPYRIGHT 2015 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Full Text:
The Hummingbird
Kati Hiekkapelto
Arcadia Books
c/o Dufour Editions, Inc.
PO Box 7, Chester Springs, PA 19425-0007
www.dufoureditions .com
9781909807563, $21.00, 364pp, www.amazon.com
Synopsis: Anna Fekete, who fled the Yugoslavian wars as a child, starts working as a criminal investigator in a northern
Finnish coastal town, with her new partner, Esko, who doesn't bother hiding his racist prejudices. Anna's work as a
criminal investigator barely gets off the ground before she is thrust into a high-profile, seemingly unsolvable case that
has riveted the nation. A young woman has been killed on a running trail, and a pendant depicting an Aztec god has
been found in her possession. Another murder soon follows. All signs point to a serial killer, but can Anna catch the
Hummingbird before he--or she--strikes again?
Critique: Exceptionally well written and deftly crafted with a profusion of unexpected twists and turns, "The
Hummingbird" is a terrific read from beginning to end. It is especially impressive that "The Hummingbird" is Finnish
author Kati Hiekkapelto's debut venture as a novelist and is ably translated into English by David Hackston. Simply
stated, "The Hummingbird" is enthusiastically recommended for community library Mystery/Suspense collections. It
should be noted for personal reading lists that "The Hummingbird" is also available in a Kindle edition ($7.89).
Kati Hiekkapelto is a special needs teacher by training. She lives on an old farm on the island of Hailuoto in Northern
Finland. This is her first novel. Translated from the Finnish by David Hackston.
Mary Cowper
Reviewer
Cowper, Mary
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Cowper, Mary. "The Hummingbird." MBR Bookwatch, Oct. 2015. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA432680198&it=r&asid=1502fd7adaf44fa36c673855263ba707.
Accessed 1 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A432680198
---
QUOTE:
brooding debut tilts heroically at such vexing
ills as racial prejudice, alcoholism, and domestic abuse
promises tough and powerful crime fiction to come
10/1/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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The Hummingbird
Publishers Weekly.
262.17 (Apr. 27, 2015): p53.
COPYRIGHT 2015 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Hummingbird
Kati Hiekkapelto, trans. from the Finnish by David Hackston. Arcadia (Dufour, dist.), $21 trade paper (364p) ISBN
978-1-909807-56-3
Hiekkapelto's brooding debut, a large-scale police procedural set in a small Finnish town, tilts heroically at such vexing
ills as racial prejudice, alcoholism, and domestic abuse. When Anna Fekete, a senior detective constable and an ethnic
Hungarian escapee from war-torn Serbia, arrives back in Koivuharju, where she grew up as a refugee, two members of
her new team prove friendly, but her surly and racist partner, Esko Niemi, disgusts her from the start of their two initial
cases. In the first, a Kurdish immigrant girl, Bihar, fears that her family will kill her, and in the second, the shooting of a
jogger mushrooms into a suspected set of serial homicides. Through Bihar's scraps of first-person narrative,
Hiekkapelto offers insights into the shortcomings of Finland's welfare and immigration policies, while the main plot
explores Anna's battles with her professional insecurities and other personal problems. Anna's slow and painful
accommodation to her new life promises tough and powerful crime fiction to come. (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Hummingbird." Publishers Weekly, 27 Apr. 2015, p. 53. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA412555999&it=r&asid=6ea7fd4e1fe18622321abb0464143afb.
Accessed 1 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A412555999
---
QUOTE:
Hiekkapelto sensitively portrays Anna's search for meaning in
her life.
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The Defenceless
Publishers Weekly.
263.8 (Feb. 22, 2016): p69.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Defenceless
Kati Hiekkapelto, trans. from the Finnish by David Hackston. Orenda (IPG, dist.), $14.95 trade paper (320p) ISBN 978-
1-910633-13-7
In Hiekkapelto's effective sequel to 2014's The Hummingbird, Senior Constable Anna Fekete's background as a
Hungarian expat comes in handy when she investigates a seemingly prosaic case. Gabriella Farkas, a Hungarian au pair
resident in Finland for 10 months, has beeri taken into custody after running over an unidentified old man on a road
near Kangassara. Though Anna's recall of her native language is spotty, she's able to develop a rapport with Gabrielle.
The young woman claims that the dead man was lying in the street before she struck him, unable to stop her car in time.
Anna must figure out whether the victim was dead beforehand, who he was, and what led to his being on the road late at
night. Her inquiry is complicated by Gabriella's request for emotional support to deal with her trauma, which Anna
agrees to, despite her concerns that she's crossing a line. Hiekkapelto sensitively portrays Anna's search for meaning in
her life. (Apr.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Defenceless." Publishers Weekly, 22 Feb. 2016, p. 69. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA444400945&it=r&asid=ae8d31a6eec7b835d074f14708305652.
Accessed 1 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A444400945
---
QUOTE:
Repeated clashes between Anna's Finnish upbringing and her Hungarian heritage add spice intriguing third Anna Fekete novel
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The Exiled
Publishers Weekly.
263.50 (Dec. 5, 2016): p52.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Exiled
Kati Hiekkapelto, trans, from the Finnish by David Hackston. Orenda (IPG, dist.), $14.95 trade paper (300p) ISBN 978-
1-910633-51-9
Hiekkapelto's intriguing third Anna Fekete novel (after 2016's The Defenceless) takes the Finnish Violent Crimes Unit
detective to the Balkan village of Kanizsa, her birthplace, for a vacation. During a wine festival in Kanizsa, someone
snatches her purse. Retired policeman Gabor Kovacs, her father's former colleague, later returns her purse and explains
that the thief's body was found by the river where he drowned, along with her purse. But lots of things remain
unexplained, including the disappearance of the little girl who accompanied the thief. When Anna's request to see the
body and the riverbank meets official resistance, she enlists the help of policeman Peter Vajda, as well as family friends.
Anna begins a tortuous search for witnesses--a fisherman, a priest, a politician--that eventually leads her to long-buried
corruption. Repeated clashes between Anna's Finnish upbringing and her Hungarian heritage add spice. (Feb.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Exiled." Publishers Weekly, 5 Dec. 2016, p. 52. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA475224853&it=r&asid=5ff92f8f8961712d4956632d32b5a049.
Accessed 1 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A475224853
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The Hummingbird by Kati Hiekkapelto – a review
June 7, 2015 by Vicky Newham 6 Comments
Kati Hiekkapelto appeared on a couple of panels at ‘Crimefest’ last month, talking about The Hummingbird. I have never read a novel set in Finland so the setting caught my attention, as did the social themes of immigration and forced marriage which are linked to the investigations. I am really enjoying this burgeoning crime sub-genre of ‘social realism’, in which I include British authors such as Eva Dolan, Rob Wilson and Stav Sherez. Hiekkapelto looks set to be joining their ranks with her debut novel, now translated into English.
The main character, Anna Fekete, is a Hungarian from former Yugoslavia. She has lived in Finland since she was a child and has made an effort to settle. She speaks perfect Finnish and numerous other languages. In contrast, her brother never learnt Finnish and struggles to find work, and her mother returned ‘home’ as soon as she could. With an army career behind her, and now starting a police one, Anna is an interesting and complex character. Hiekkapelto drip feeds some of her family and personal backstory throughout the novel, and there is plenty here to get the teeth into. I loved the way that Anna stands up to people. Her racist, sexist, bullying colleague, Esko, gets put in his place and I enjoyed seeing their working relationship evolve. I also liked how proud she is of her nationality. For example, she introduces herself as ‘Fekete Anna’, knowing that the surname-first format will reveal that she isn’t a Finn.
The Hummingbird takes the form of a police procedural. On the first day of her new job in the Violent Crimes Unit, Anna is thrown into the deep end when a female jogger is murdered, and a report is received of a Kurdish girl who may be in danger. When more joggers are killed, and the crimes appear to be linked to an Aztec god (where the Hummingbird comes in), things get intense. Anna seems to identify with the cases, gets over-involved and suffers insomnia as a result. Her own jogging regime is dropped in favour of cigarettes and beer. She becomes obsessed with the Kurdish girl, and is convinced that she is being forced into a marriage. It is an interesting examination of prejudice and stereotypes and how difficult it can be to distinguish these from reality.
I was interested to see how Hiekkapelto would cover her themes. Immigration and forced marriage are thorny issues and, because they can be controversial and emotive, it is easy to avoid their discussion. I thought that making the themes central to the story worked extremely well and crime fiction is a perfect genre for doing this. Having a detective who is also an immigrant on the team is a good strategy as the reader can see things from her perspective. Her viewpoint, in turn, is informed by having experienced life in former Yugoslavia, having moved to another country, and learnt a new language and different customs. I was shocked by some of the reactions of Anna’s colleagues to her ethnicity, and by some of the vocabulary they use (although I am aware that I read the book in translation). And I found it refreshing: in my opinion it is so important that literature shocks and horrifies us all out of complacency and ignorance and inertia, and encourages us to challenge our preconceptions and reflect on our behaviour. It might be easy to wonder if the ‘immigrant experience’ is exaggerated in the book. As the author has lived in the Hungarian region of Serbia and has taught immigrants in her role as a special needs teacher, I suspect it’s factually based. Chapters are also written from the point of view of one of the victims (the Kurdish girl) which provides useful insight to the forced marriage situation.
To my mind, the Hummingbird is also about identity and belonging. These are two of my favourite themes because they’re so psychologically complex. Through all the characters in the book the reader can reflect on how identity is constructed and what contributes to it. Anna is a wonderful example of someone whose cultural identity is both stable and malleable. Despite her respectable profession and linguistic competences, at times she feels lost and anxious but underneath – or mixed in with – her vulnerabilities she is strong and determined. The same with belonging: what determines our sense of belonging? Why do some people feel they ‘belong’ more than others? And belong to what?
Something else which appeals to me about Nordic novels is the role that landscape and the weather play. As a teenager, reading Thomas Hardy, interminable descriptions of meadows and harvests and towns had me skipping pages. In The Hummingbird Hiekkapelto integrates the landscape, weather and nature into the story and this works better for me: it contributes to the tone and mood in a way which feels relevant rather than indulgent. I liked the fact that the investigation spans August to November, and we are shown the changing seasons. It gives the plot a slower pace but also enables, I found, greater reflection. I didn’t anticipate the ending, and the twists worked well for me. The final twist made me smile.
If I have one criticism of the book, it is that I found the translation a bit strange in places, and, initially, didn’t see the point of the untranslated Hungarian phrases and words, but neither issue impaired my enjoyment of the book. The author has since told me that these phrases were deliberately left untranslated to let the reader experience what it is like not to be able to understand. When she told me this, it made sense. Furthermore, this device was effective: I was a bit irritated by not understanding them in case I had missed an important detail. (The meaning of some could be inferred from the context)
I have no doubt that Hiekkapelto’s novels will go from strength to strength. She strikes me as an author with a lot to say about contemporary issues in society, from an informed viewpoint, and a writer with a wonderful imagination and use of language.
——————————————————————————————————————-
Vicky Newham © 2015
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Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: contemporary issues, crime fiction, Finland, immigration, Kati Hiekkapelto, Nordic Noir, novels, review, Scandi Noir, social realism | Permalink.
Author: Vicky Newham
Vicky Newham is a writer, living in Whitstable, Kent. She writes crime fiction, psychological thrillers and science fiction. Her main projects are novels, but she also writes short stories, flash fiction, non-fiction articles and some poetry.
6 THOUGHTS ON “THE HUMMINGBIRD BY KATI HIEKKAPELTO – A REVIEW”
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Pingback: The Defenceless by Kati Hiekkapelto – a review | Vicky Newham, writer
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crimeworm
June 8, 2015 at 12:13 am
Wonderful review, Vicky. I bought this on Kindle the other day as it was £1.99 or 99p – a real bargain price anyway! I’m very much looking forward to reading it after this review – I’m a big fan of Eva Dolan, have Stav Sherez on my Wish List, and I must investigate Rob Wilson. Fantastic to have authors willing to get their teeth into controversial contemporary issues, and hopefully get people thinking – I was horrified by some of the conditions faced by the migrant workers in Eva’s debut – then people accuse them of being scroungers! My Dad’s friend has a big fruit farm and he HAS to employ migrant workers – mostly Eastern European women – as the locals regard fruit picking as beneath them – despite the fact they can earn £1000 a week in high season! Some people don’t want to know the facts – and you’ll never change their mindset.
Reply
Vicky Newham
June 8, 2015 at 10:28 am
Thanks so much for reading my review and taking the time to comment. I bought the paperback at Crimefest and then a e-book version too as I like to read lying down and the kindle is fab for that. Let me know how you get on with The Hummingbird when you read it. I felt that about Eva’s book in places too. I think that it is so important that literature shocks and horrifies us all out of complacency and ignorance and inertia, and encourages us to challenge our preconceptions and behaviour. It is why the social realism stuff appeals. Rob Wilson’s books are excellent. And Stav’s writing and ideas are really worth reading.
Reply
poppypeacockpens
June 7, 2015 at 12:18 pm
What a great review – you’ve certainly highlighted some very appealing aspects of this book that makes it a must read for me: strong female protagonist, identity, social realism, nature descriptions integrated, not to mention the ‘rare’ setting and it’s translated… the cover is really striking too.
Reply
Vicky Newham
June 7, 2015 at 8:01 pm
Hi Poppy,
Thanks so much for reading my review and taking the time to comment. I like the strong female lead aspect too. It is so interesting to read about life and crime – albeit fictional – in other countries. I adore the cover. Such a striking image. If you read it, let me know how you find it.
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← Review: BLOWBACK by Bill PronziniBooks of the month: April 2017 →
Review: THE EXILED by Kati Hiekkapelto
Posted on April 22, 2017 by bernadetteinoz
Kati Hiekkapelto’s third novel to feature Finnish-Hungarian policewoman Anna Fekete is another of the titles on this year’s Petrona Award shortlist; the announcement of which was just the impetus I needed to catch up with the series. And though I have enjoyed its two predecessors very much I think THE EXILED is in a whole different class. It is an outstanding read.
Though I have travelled a reasonable amount I was born and have lived all my life on a giant island with naturally stable borders and politics. A very long way from everywhere else on the planet. Which helps, I hope, explain why places with more fluid and volatile geography and political situations are both fascinating and alien-seeming to me. Keeping up with events in such places via the news can be difficult as there’s an ‘other-worldiness’ that adds distance from my own day-to-day experiences. What good fiction, such as THE EXILED, can offer that factual reporting often lacks is a way to humanise the situations and make them, paradoxically, more realistic.
In this novel Hiekkapelto sends her heroine ‘home’. Or at least to the place she was born. The town of Kanisza was a Hungarian community in Yugoslavia when Anna and her family fled it in the 1990’s. Her mother and brother have returned to the town which is now part of Serbia and where those residents who only speak Hungarian need translators to carry out official business. Throughout the book there is a heartfelt and credible exploration of what constitutes ‘home’ for Anna and people like her who feel like outsiders no matter where they go. But the exiled people of the book’s title are even more clearly homeless. Focus in this story is on two groups of dispossessed souls: the streams of refugees fleeing the Middle East into Europe and the Roma people who have never felt welcome irrespective of how long an association they’ve had with a location.
Our entry into these worlds is, not surprisingly, via a crime. Though at least initially it’s a much more minor one that genre fans might be used to as Anna’s handbag is stolen while she is out with friends one night. When she reports the theft to the local police she learns that the thief was a young Romani man. And that he died soon after taking her bag. When Anna realises that the police do not seem interested in investigating the death she investigates on her own and begins to unravel links to an event in her own family’s past. It’s a very layered and compelling story about small town life and the damage we can do when we try to cover up a mistake.
Taking the series away from the familiar surroundings and characters is something of a risk but Hiekkapelto has provided enough of the ‘known’ to keep series fans happy as Anna catches up with her surviving family members and even maintains an email connection to one of her Finnish colleagues. Seeing a different aspect of Anna’s story as she reconnects with old friends and exposes greater depth in her relationships with her mother and brother makes her a more interesting character than ever for me.
I enjoyed the audio narration of the book but should report that Julie Maisey makes no effort to sound anything other than English. I prefer this to poor attempts at accents (if you could even work out what accents would be appropriate for this setting and its people of multiple heritage lines) but some commenters have remarked that it doesn’t feel right to them. However you read it, I would urge you to track down Kati Hiekkapelto’s THE EXILED which is topical, thoughtful and totally compelling. As a bonus it could easily be read as a standalone novel if you haven’t yet read the two earlier books in the series.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
I have reviewed this book’s two predecessors THE HUMMINGBIRD and THE DEFENCELESS
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Narrator Julie Maisey
Translator David Hackston
Publisher This edition Audible Studios 2016
ASIN B01LXPOI53
Length 9 hours 29 minutes
Format audio (mp3)
Book Series #3 in the Anna Fekete series
Source of review copy I bought it
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Review: THE DEFENCELESS by Kati Hiekkapelto
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Books of the month: May 2017
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2 Responses to Review: THE EXILED by Kati Hiekkapelto
Margot Kinberg says:
April 22, 2017 at 9:46 pm
Very glad you enjoyed this as much as you did, Bernadette. And I know exactly what you mean, too, about exploring places in your reading that are quite different to what you’re accustomed to at home. I enjoy doing that, too. The atmosphere and context sound quite well done here, too – an added bonus.
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kathy d. says:
April 23, 2017 at 5:04 pm
Glad to see a good review of this book. It’s on my TBR pile. I do like Anna Fegete’s character and Hiekkapelto’s writing, including her sense of place.
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