The Red Book of Farewells by Pirkko Saisio

‘This is where she would like to belong, here in the kingdom of women, where words are sharp but gazes are soft.’

In 1970s Helsinki, a revolutionary storm is blowing through Pirkko Saisio’s university. She has moved out of her family home, joined a communist theatre, and fallen in love for the first time. Her newly shaved head looks unmistakably modern, and Bertold Brecht lives on her windowsill to profess God-like words of wisdom.

Playful, moving and original, this autofictional coming-of-age story embeds the reader in a world where art and activism are irrevocably intertwined, and where queer love, still a crime, thrives in underground bars.
In her mesmerizing account of radical politics and sexual awakening, Pirkko Saisio offers a series of farewells, to her mother, to the idealism of youth, to friends and lovers and finally to her grown daughter. The grand finale of the award-winning Helsinki trilogy, The Red Book of Farewells embraces the revolutionary potential of moving on.