Vad korpen ser

Author: Kerstin Karlberg
Pages: 256 pages
Binding type: Hardbound book
Publication year: 2023

 
Sofia is found in the estate's sheep chain when she is five. She gets to stay as a maid in the barn, where her good handling of animals is an asset. She is the survivor who takes in all that nature has and is strong as the primeval rock when the family in 1866 begins to break ground on the new croft.
 
Vad korpen ser is a depiction of rural life in Finland between the years 1809–1947 and is a continuation of Karlberg's novel Gården from 2020. During this era, Finland belonged to Russia, Helsinki became the capital, the first railways were built, the First World War broke out, Finland became independent in 1917, women got the right to vote and during the Second World War the Winter War and the Continuation War took place in Finland.
 
This is a novel about strength and love. Loving may not save anything, but love helps Sofia not to give up, to find new untested paths, to dare to break patterns and do what her reason says is right. To go your own way, regardless of what others think. When her grandchild, Herbert, is born, she finally gets a follower who also sees what nature can provide. When Herbert is drafted and ends up in the Continuation War, everything changes, but Sofia is comforted by the letters he writes.