The Year of the Hare

A burnt-out Helsinki journalist walks away from his life after his car clips a hare on a country road, and carries the animal north across the whole length of Finland. The map runs from the capital up through the lake country and the forests to Lapland, and on to the eastern border with the Soviet Union.

Vatanen

Helsinki

The start

A tired newspaperman is stuck in Helsinki, worn down by his job and his marriage. He is driving out of the city on an assignment when the accident that changes everything happens, and the capital becomes the point he never goes back to.

Opening chapters

explicit The novel begins with the journalist at work in the capital; this marks central Helsinki, the life he leaves behind.

Google Maps ↗ Street View ↗