Release date is 2026-01-08

Juhani Kärkkäinen and Tapio Riikonen

"Aamusta iltaan" by Reino Rauanheimo is a novel written in the early 20th century. It appears to be a social-realist portrait of urban working-class life across a single day, centering on the Hietala family in Helsinki. The story focuses on Liisa Hietala, her widowed mother Jenny, her drifting brother Tauno, and their overfamiliar lodger Vareinen, with Liisa’s past lover Erkki haunting her thoughts.

The opening of Aamusta iltaan follows a noisy dawn in a shabby wooden house hemmed in by city tenements, as Jenny carts goods to the market while Liisa, recovering from illness and job loss, steels herself to find work. Liisa recalls her intense summer romance and painful winter entanglement with Erkki, which ended just before her sickness deepened the family’s poverty. The lodger Vareinen has been “helpful” with money and errands, but uses this to press Liisa into marriage and physical intimacy; when she resists, he grows coarse and storms out. Moments later Erkki appears at the door, but Liisa, ashamed of their cramped circumstances and unsure of his purpose, hides and lets him leave, then breaks down in tears. Meanwhile Vareinen is abruptly dismissed from the repair shop and, with Tauno, plots a smuggling run by motorboat to make fast cash. He flatters Jenny at her stall and pays the rent, tightening his hold just as Liisa tries to reclaim her independence. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Originally published: Porvoo: WSOY, 1930