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The epic 400-year story of a family and a farm, deep in the magical Finnish forest-perfect for fans of North Woods and Tove Jansson's The Summer Book
"Maria Turtschaninoff has no equal when it comes to diving deep into the spirit of an era" - Le Monde des Livres
Prize-winning author Maria Turtschaninoff delivers a mesmeric tale of nature, history and hope. Filled with fantasy, magic and a deep love of human connection, Tangled Roots is an epic, passionate story of survival.
An old soldier retires and is given a plot of land deep in the Finnish forest, as pension for his years of faithful service to the crown. Here, he carves a secluded croft and calls it home, but try as he might to tame the land, its wild magic endures.
From this 17th-century beginning comes centuries of his descendants who will continue work the farm, through days of plenty and famine, love and war, their fates entangled with the rhythms of the ancient wilderness, where mysterious shapes flit between the trees and danger lurks in the treacherous fen...
Like dragonflies darting over the marsh, their lives glimmer briefly and then are gone: a young girl entranced by the forest folk, a faithless fiancé who meets his match beneath the age-old branches, a farmhand with a strange obsession....
What endures is the wild landscape and its secrets. This place holds the certainty that wherever we put down roots, the land will grow roots in us too. Maria Turtschaninoff is known for crafting lyrical, historically inspired stories filled with magic and fantasy. She has won numerous prizes, including the Society of Swedish Literature Prize, the Swedish YLE Literature Prize and Finlandia Junior Prize, as well as being nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Her YA trilogy, The Red Abbey Chronicles, has sold in 31 territories around the world. Tangled Roots is Maria's first adult novel.
A.A. Prime is an award-winning translator from Swedish to English. Her translations include Maria Turtschaninoff's Red Abbey Chronicles trilogy. A soLDieR fRom the WesteRn hALf of the kingdom had been promised a plot of land in the east as a reward for faithful service to the crown. He travelled by ship over the sea to the young town of Kokkola, then followed a river until he came to a small village. There was no church, and in the whole village, which was spread over a wide area, there were only fifteen smoking chimneys. He was advised where to go by the locals he met, who spoke Swedish, his native tongue, but there were those who spoke Finnish as well.
At the furthest eastern edge of the parish, he found the land that was now his to farm. He knew he would have to build a cabin by himself, but this did not bother him in the slightest. The woodland he walked through was dense and dark; nothing like the deciduous forests of his home. Here there was timber enough for a fine cabin. The treetops whispered like the sea he had traversed on his way to fight in the war. He had done well for himself in the war and earned the trust and respect of officers and fellow soldiers. But he was not made for killing and plundering. He was made to hold a shovel, hoe and plough. He imagined the weight of the tools in his hands as he walked.
He spent the night in the forest and set off again before day- break. When he reached the hill where he was to build his croft, it was still early morning. The full moon hung low above the treetops, white against the pale spring sky. It had risen before the sun. He stood for a long time gazing at the hill. The forest was thick, and at the foot of the slope flowed a stream, swollen with rippling meltwater. He could picture where his house would stand and where he would create his first field. He could fetch his water from the stream until he dug a well. The forest would provide more than enough firewood. Here was everything a man could ever need. This was virgin soil, and he was primed to tame it, to sow his seed and make the land bea
"Maria Turtschaninoff has no equal when it comes to diving deep into the spirit of an era" - Le Monde des Livres
Prize-winning author Maria Turtschaninoff delivers a mesmeric tale of nature, history and hope. Filled with fantasy, magic and a deep love of human connection, Tangled Roots is an epic, passionate story of survival.
An old soldier retires and is given a plot of land deep in the Finnish forest, as pension for his years of faithful service to the crown. Here, he carves a secluded croft and calls it home, but try as he might to tame the land, its wild magic endures.
From this 17th-century beginning comes centuries of his descendants who will continue work the farm, through days of plenty and famine, love and war, their fates entangled with the rhythms of the ancient wilderness, where mysterious shapes flit between the trees and danger lurks in the treacherous fen...
Like dragonflies darting over the marsh, their lives glimmer briefly and then are gone: a young girl entranced by the forest folk, a faithless fiancé who meets his match beneath the age-old branches, a farmhand with a strange obsession....
What endures is the wild landscape and its secrets. This place holds the certainty that wherever we put down roots, the land will grow roots in us too. Maria Turtschaninoff is known for crafting lyrical, historically inspired stories filled with magic and fantasy. She has won numerous prizes, including the Society of Swedish Literature Prize, the Swedish YLE Literature Prize and Finlandia Junior Prize, as well as being nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Her YA trilogy, The Red Abbey Chronicles, has sold in 31 territories around the world. Tangled Roots is Maria's first adult novel.
A.A. Prime is an award-winning translator from Swedish to English. Her translations include Maria Turtschaninoff's Red Abbey Chronicles trilogy. A soLDieR fRom the WesteRn hALf of the kingdom had been promised a plot of land in the east as a reward for faithful service to the crown. He travelled by ship over the sea to the young town of Kokkola, then followed a river until he came to a small village. There was no church, and in the whole village, which was spread over a wide area, there were only fifteen smoking chimneys. He was advised where to go by the locals he met, who spoke Swedish, his native tongue, but there were those who spoke Finnish as well.
At the furthest eastern edge of the parish, he found the land that was now his to farm. He knew he would have to build a cabin by himself, but this did not bother him in the slightest. The woodland he walked through was dense and dark; nothing like the deciduous forests of his home. Here there was timber enough for a fine cabin. The treetops whispered like the sea he had traversed on his way to fight in the war. He had done well for himself in the war and earned the trust and respect of officers and fellow soldiers. But he was not made for killing and plundering. He was made to hold a shovel, hoe and plough. He imagined the weight of the tools in his hands as he walked.
He spent the night in the forest and set off again before day- break. When he reached the hill where he was to build his croft, it was still early morning. The full moon hung low above the treetops, white against the pale spring sky. It had risen before the sun. He stood for a long time gazing at the hill. The forest was thick, and at the foot of the slope flowed a stream, swollen with rippling meltwater. He could picture where his house would stand and where he would create his first field. He could fetch his water from the stream until he dug a well. The forest would provide more than enough firewood. Here was everything a man could ever need. This was virgin soil, and he was primed to tame it, to sow his seed and make the land bea