Lowest Common Denominator

'A Finnish masterpiece of autofiction... Saisio's Helsinki trilogy is a dreamy, complex and therefore so very human portrait of the formation of a great artist' Financial Times

'Playful and profound... a captivating glimpse into twentieth-century Finland through the eyes of a charismatic child narrator' Fiona Mozley

‘Grandma made me take lots of naps. She believed sleep was the most important thing in the world for children. And that adults should be allowed to drink their afternoon coffee in peace.’

In this charming patchwork of fever dreams and memories, Pirkko Saisio transports us to the 1950s Finland of her youth, where she navigates life as an only child of communist parents. Convinced she will grow up to become a man, a young Pirkko keeps trying and failing to meet the expectations of the adults around her. But as she discovers that she can be the narrator of her own story, it is in language that she finds a refuge and a way to be seen at last.

In a world where mascara-streaked mermaids dodge tennis balls, a beloved green cap is stolen by the Big Bad Wolf, and the first tugs of infatuation are inspired by a swimsuit-clad circus announcer, Saisio captures the heart-wrenching intensity of childhood as it floods back in the wake of her father’s death.

Deeply moving and disarmingly funny, Lowest Common Denominator is the first volume in a trilogy that has been celebrated in Finland as the best work of the century.