Original Finnish title Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi (2000). Translated from the Finnish by Herbert Lomas. London: Peter Owen Publishers 2003/2010. Paperback, 236 pages.
Cover design: Nick Pearson.

2004 James Tiptree Jr. Award
2000 Finlandia Prize
2000 (Finnish Tolkien Society Kontu) Kuvastaja award
2000 City of Tampere literary prize
2000 Most popular debut novel at Akateeminen kirjakauppa

Back cover:
A young photographer, Mikael, finds a small, man-like creature in his courtyard: a troll, known from Scandinavian mythology as a demonic wild beast, a hybrid like the werewolf, and supposedly extinct. Mikael takes him home but soon discovers that trolls exude pheromones that smell like Calvin Klein aftershave and have a profound aphrodisiac effect on all those around him. But what Mikael and others who come into contact with the troll fail to learn, with tragic consequences, is that the troll is the interpreter of man's darkest, most forbidden desires.
A bestseller in Finland and translated into ten languages, Not Before Sundown (aka Troll: A Love Story) is a multi-award-winning novel of sparkling originality, a wry, peculiar and beguiling story of ' nature and man's relationship with wild things and of the dark power of the wildness within us.
’A sharp, resonant, prickly book that exists on the slipstream of SF, fantasy, horror and gay fiction.’ – Neil Gaiman
‘Chillingly seductive’ – Independent

About the author:
JOHANNA SINISALO was born in Finnish Lapland in 1958. She studied theatre and drama and worked in advertising for a number of years before becoming a full-time author, at first writing science fiction and fantasy short stories. Not Before Sundown (2000), her acclaimed first novel, won the prestigious Finlandia Award and the James Tiptree Jr Award for works of science fiction or fantasy that expand or explore our understanding of gender. Also known in Finland for her television and comic-strip writing, she has won the Atorox Prize for best Finnish science fiction or fantasy story seven times and has been the winner of the Kemi National Comic Strip Contest three times. In addition to her four novels — including Birdbrain (2008), also published by Peter Owen — she has written reviews, articles, comic strips, film and television scripts and edited anthologies, including The Dedalus Book of Finnish Fantasy. Her work has been translated into twenty languages, including eight translations of Not Before Sundown.

Johanna Sinisalo at Wikipedia
Not Before Sundown at Wikipedia
Not Before Sundown at FantasticFiction
TROLL: A Love Story at Publishers Weekly
Troll: A Love Story by Johanna Sinisalo at Bookslut

I don’t often want to read highly acclaimed books until they get older; I want to forget the praise and see how the text stands the test of time. It took more than ten years before I read Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi. After finally reading the book, I felt disappointed at first. Then it started to seem more and more interesting. I knew, of course, that the title and names of the chapters came from my favourite song, Päivänsäde ja menninkäinen. I then realized Johanna Sinisalo had taken the both the story and the characters from my all-time favourite book, Pessi ja Illusia by Yrjö Kokko. She had just twisted everything so that you almost didn’t recognise the source. She is so skilful. She’s also talented in mixing facts with fiction so that the reader can’t tell the difference. I remember reading JE’s where Finnish readers believed the quotes etc. Sinisalo presents in her novel. At the end of the day, I truly loved her debut novel. I still do.
P.S. Here’s a piece of trivia not many people know: Johanna and her sisters joined my patrol decades ago when we all were girl guides/scouts and I used to be a patrol leader in our troop. She was an exceptionally smart little girl – actually, she was so young she should have joined brownies. No wonder she became such an outstanding writer.

Yrjö Kokko at Wikipedia
The vanished fairies and Yrjö Kokko by Hans-Jørgen Wallin Weihe
Sunray and Goblin, English translation of the lyrics of of Päivänsäde ja menninkäinen
Tapio Rautavaara - athlete and singer at the University of Jyväskylä library
Tapio Rautavaara at Discogs
Reino Helismaa at Discogs

Not Before Sundown was my September offer in greenbadger's One book a month thread. The book was won by Blue_berry.
Happy reading!

Kirja saapui eilen, kiitos, samoin myos postikortista! :)