I found Helena Halme via a booksweeps, and I like her Nordic-noir style of writing. This novel is about a woman in her 40s, Eeva, dealing with a current loss while trying to come to terms with her family’s past. The novel is uncomfortably close to the bone at times, dealing, as Halme does, with flawed human characters and complicated family relationships. The scenes of domestic abuse are hard to read in places and the family dysfunction and estrangement are portrayed realistically. Particularly on the nose is Eeva’s dawning realisation that the relationships in her life are not as she imagined them to be, and that she has been left out of the loop to a large extent. This feeling manifests itself in the reader later in the book when we realise that we have perhaps been making assumptions without having all the information. A very affecting novel with no easy answers.

Not relevant to my feelings about the book perhaps but I really love the cover image, it perfectly reflects the kind of rainy-day mood of the story itself. ( )

Review: Coffee and Vodka by Helena Halme. 3.5★’s 08/03/2018

The Finland author’s written work never hindered my reading and was well-organized. The characters were interesting and the story’s theme focuses on parenting, childhood, sisterhood, relationships and heart-warming drama. The author even covered the dark family’s secrets and the dialogue between family members, past and present, reinforces the communication fallen upon this family over several years.

The story begins with the family moving from Finland to Stockholm with two young sisters telling their view points about the move. There’s a before move events and a lot of changes after the move. Than the story jumps thirty years to the future where Eeve, the younger daughter received news her grandmother dies and she has to travel back to Finland to her grandmother’s funeral and face some tragedies from the past.

From this point the scenario of the story happens in Finland. This is where the reader will acknowledge the events of the thirty year separation. ( )