Mr Darwin's Gardener

by Kristina Carlson

  ‘A small masterpiece.’ TLS

  ………..

  MALE DILEMMA: QUESTS FOR INTIMACY

  NO 4 Next World Novella by Matthias Politycki

  Translated from the German by Anthea Bell

  ‘Inventive and deeply affecting.’ INDEPENDENT

  NO 5

  Tomorrow Pamplona by Jan van Mersbergen

  Translated from the Dutch by Laura Watkinson

  ‘An impressive work.’ DAILY MAIL

  NO 6

  Maybe This Time by Alois Hotschnig

  Translated from the Austrian German by Tess Lewis

  ‘Weird, creepy and ambiguous.’ GUARDIAN

  SMALL EPIC: UNRAVELLING SECRETS

  NO 7

  The Brothers by Asko Sahlberg

  Translated from the Finnish by Emily Jeremiah and Fleur Jeremiah

  ‘Intensely visual.’ INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

  NO 8

  The Murder of Halland by Pia Juul

  Translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken

  ‘A brilliantly drawn character.’ TLS

  NO 9

  Sea of Ink by Richard Weihe

  Translated from the Swiss German by Jamie Bulloch

  ‘Delicate and moving.’ INDEPENDENT

  ………

  NEW IN 2013

  TURNING POINT:

  REVOLUTIONARY MOMENTS

  NO 10

  The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke

  Translated from the German by Jamie Bulloch

  ‘A darkly comic tale.’ INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

  NO 11

  Mr Darwin’s Gardener by Kristina Carlson

  Translated from the Finnish by Emily Jeremiah and Fleur Jeremiah

  ‘Effortless humour.’ SUOMEN KUVALEHTI

  NO 12

  Chasing the King of Hearts by Hanna Krall

  Translated from the Polish by Philip Boehm

  ‘An outstanding writer.’ GAZETA WYBORCZA

  Peirene Press is proud to support the Maya Centre.

  The Maya Centre provides free psychodynamic counselling and group psychotherapy for women on low incomes in London. The counselling is offered in many different languages, including Arabic, Turkish and Portuguese. The centre also undertakes educational work on women’s mental health issues.

  By buying this book you help the Maya Centre to continue their pioneering services.

  Peirene Press will donate 50p from the sale of this book to the Maya Centre.

  www.mayacentre.org.uk

  About the Author and Translators

  AUTHOR

  Kristina Carlson, born in 1949, has published 16 books in her native Finland. She is a highly popular children’s author and her three novels have assured her a wide adult readership and huge critical acclaim. She has won the Finlandia Prize and Finland’s State Prize for Literature.

  TRANSLATORS

  Emily Jeremiah and Fleur Jeremiah unite as a multilingual mother-and-daughter translation team. Emily has an MA in Creative Writing and a PhD in German Studies. Fleur, her mother, is Finnish and has translated both fiction and non-fiction for many years. Emily and Fleur have cooperated on translating the poetry of Helvi Juvonen and Sirkka Turkka and are the translators of The Brothers by Asko Sahlberg, Peirene No. 7.

  Copyright

  First published in English in 2013

  by Peirene Press, 17 Cheverton Road, London, N19 3BB

  www.peirenepress.com

  This ebook edition first published in 2013.

  Originally published in 2009 by Otava Publishing Company with the Finnish titlr HERRA DARWINN PUUTARHURI.

  Published in the English language by arrangement with the Otava Group Agency, Helsinki.

  Copyright © 2009 Kristina Carlson

  This translation © Emily Jeremiah and Fleur Jeremiah 2013

  This publication has been made possible with the financial support of FILI – Finnish Literature Exchange.

  The right of Kristina Carslon to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  All rights reserved. This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly

  ISBN 978-1-908670-12-0

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Designed by Sacha Davison-Lunt.

  Cover illustration by Giuilia Morselli