
Two recent university graduates wander the rain‑slick streets of 1920s Helsinki, driven by an oddly specific quest: to find a flat that buzzes with life yet lets them slip away from the city's clamor. Juho, a theology student with an almost reverent view of love, insists the perfect room must feel both lively and secluded, while his companion Helge, a budding natural scientist, watches his friend's stubborn idealism with a mix of amusement and fatigue. Their search leads them through cramped corridors and dimly lit passages, each doorway promising a new possibility.
At last they encounter Mrs. Fagerholm, the proprietor of a modest, lamp‑lit apartment whose modest furnishings and quiet charm seem to match Juho’s exacting criteria. The room’s simple décor—a faded wallpaper, an old mirror, a faint kitchen aroma—offers a refuge that feels removed from the bustling streets outside. As the evening settles, a subtle attraction begins to stir between the earnest young men and the enigmatic landlady, hinting at the tender complications that lie ahead.
Language
fi
Duration
~4 hours (274K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Juhani Kärkkäinen and Tapio Riikonen
Release date
2020-04-12
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1883–1939
A Finnish novelist and Lutheran priest, he became one of the notable storytellers of Finland’s early independence era. Much of his fiction drew its energy from Lapland, while his historical novels and later works inspired by travels in Hungary widened his range.
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