Celebrated Finnish author Emmi Itäranta discusses her second novel The Weaver (Harper Voyager, November 2016), a finely crafted fantasy tale that seamlessly blends a coming-of-age story with high-stakes intrigue and danger.
Eliana is a model citizen of the island, a weaver in the prestigious House of Webs. She also harbors a dangerous secret—she can dream, an ability forbidden by the island’s elusive council of elders. No one talks about the dreamers, the undesirables ostracized from society. But the web of protection Eliana has woven around herself begins to unravel when a young girl is found lying unconscious in a pool of blood on the stones outside the house.
Robbed of speech by her attackers, the only clue to her identity is one word tattooed in invisible ink across her palm: Eliana. Why does this mysterious girl bear her name? What links her to the weaver—and could she hold Eliana’s fate in her hand?
As Eliana finds herself growing closer to this injured girl she is bound to in ways she doesn’t understand, the enchanting lies of the island begin to crumble, revealing a deep and ancient corruption. Joining a band of brave rebels determined to expose the island’s dark secrets, Eliana becomes a target of ruthless forces determined to destroy her. To save herself and those she loves, she must call on the power within her she thought was her greatest weakness: her dreams.
About Emmi Itäranta
Emmi Itäranta was born in Tampere, Finland, where she also grew up. She holds one MA in Drama and Theatre Studies from the University of Tampere, and another from the University of Kent, where she began writing her debut novel Memory of Water as a part of her Creative Writing master’s degree. She later completed the full manuscript in both Finnish and English. The novel won the Fantasy and Sci-fi Literary Contest organized by the Finnish publishing house Teos. It was published to enthusiastic reviews in Finland in 2012 under the title Teemestarin kirja.
In 2015 the English language version, Memory of Water, was nominated for the Philip K. Dick award in the U.S. and the Arthur C. Clarke award in the U.K. Translation rights to the award-winning novel have been sold in 21 territories to date.
Itäranta’s second novel Kudottujen kujien kaupunki was published in 2015, and it won her the Tampere City Literary Award. In the U.K. the novel is known as The City of Woven Streets, and in the U.S. as The Weaver. Itäranta’s professional background is an eclectic blend of writing-related activities, including stints as a columnist, theatre critic, dramaturge, scriptwriter, and press officer. She currently lives in Canterbury, England.
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Images by Heini-Lehväslaiho and Harper Voyager
THU—4-20-2017—7 PM, free