Author Visit: Heli Ranta

Heli Ranta, who lives in southern France, is the newest member of the small publishing house Stresa, and her debut novel The Heart of the Road has just been published.

The novel's protagonist walks through life in the wrong place - post-war scarcity and the sleepy atmosphere of a small town shadow her childhood, and the dream of a different life drives her toward art and freedom in risky relationships. Naivety leads to exploitation and subjugation. A career, a husband, and a child bring a moment of peace, until one December evening everything changes - and the journey between two cultures in a growing Europe becomes tragedy.

Ranta also has a background as a visual artist, which shows in her prose. In the novel, painting and writing are intertwined: "Words and images are woven together, between them only a hint of consequences."

📍 Rikhardinkatu Library, Rikhardinkatu 3, Helsinki
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