The novel “The Finnish Sun” takes place in one house—in a closed, self-contained world of its own. The house stands in an abstract town on the Volga. In the house live abstract but well-recognizable “Volga Finns.” Each of the heroes—whose Finnish-sounding names are not accidental—has their own story and their own fate. They work and study, communicate and make friends, fall in love and quarrel, try to survive and sometimes even commit terrible crimes. But the more crimes there are, the more the axis that binds the residents begins to loosen…
However, these parable-investigations that make up the novel can be applied to any house in any city. The author’s imaginative world stretches far beyond any single specific location.
Ildar Abuzarov is a winner of the Pushkin Prize (2011). His novel “Agrobilling in Olban” was a finalist for the Bunin Prize (2012), his novel “Mutabor” won the Kataev Prize (2012) and was a finalist for the “National Bestseller” award (2013). In 2006, two stories—“Mail” and “The Moor”—made the short list for the Yuri Kazakov Prize. The novel “HUSH” was included in the long lists for the “National Bestseller” and “Big Book” awards. In 2014, based on Abuzarov’s novella “A Romance with a Victim,” a full-length feature film was made.