
In a quiet seaside town, Elma lives in the spacious, wind‑blown house that has been in her family for generations. Her great‑aunt’s fertile past and the fortunes of two brothers—one a once‑prosperous shipowner, the other a forward‑thinking banker—illustrate the clash between old‑world agricultural wealth and the rising tide of industrial capitalism. Amid the creaking parlors and a great kitchen that dominates the home, Elma watches the town’s elite, especially the flamboyant Kyösti, mock the establishment while spiralling into his own artistic and moral disarray.
The narrative widens to the unrest of 1906, when young lieutenant Evgenj Kohanski and his fellow officer Arkadj Jemeljanoff, both idealistic and eager for revolution, become entangled in the Viapori uprising. Their youthful dreams of justice collide with the rigid social hierarchy that Elma’s family embodies, offering a portrait of a community on the brink of change. The novella captures the tension between personal longing, familial duty, and the broader currents of political upheaval that define the era.
Language
fi
Duration
~1 hours (93K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Matti Järvinen and Tuija Lindholm.
Release date
2005-05-16
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1875–1925
A bold early Finnish playwright and novelist, remembered for taking on gender, class, and social power with unusual directness. Her work stood out for its fearless attention to women’s lives and the tensions of her time.
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