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Dennis Frahmann

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The Finnish Girl Kindle Edition

by Dennis Frahmann (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Secrets kill. Not just those you choose to keep from others, or even those that others guard from you. There remains those secrets that you so desparately hide from yourself. They all catch up with Lempi Makinen Lahti.

When Lempi’s teenage son Danny discovers her suicide, he seeks to solve the mysteries that defined her life and death. A pack of letters and clippings hidden in an old family trunk may be the only keys to understanding both his mother’s past and his own future.

"The Finnish Girl" is a richly told tapestry of interwoven characters—the family patriarch who emigrates from Finland to the United States to create his own future, a son who turns his back on his home as part of an ill-fated mission to Russia during the Depression, the elderly mother who faces deportation in an America driven by fear during the Red Scare, and the young Finnish girl who cares too much about the injustices she sees.

Decisions in one generation propel another on unexpected paths, until one family’s hopes for the American dream threaten to become its nightmare.

“Melancholic, brooding, and cut-to-the-bone incisive, this is a tale to remember.” – Publishers Weekly

Print length

326 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publication date

July 30, 2014
File size

716 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A multilayered story about family, identity, remorse, and the fracturing effects of long-held secrets told mostly in flashback, this excellent manuscript revolves around Lempi Makinen Lahti, the Finnish girl of the book's title, and the ways her existence has influenced the lives of the novel's fully realized cast of characters . . . a crush of revealed secrets weave a web of deceit in this accomplished and poignant novel. Melancholic, brooding, and cut-to-the-bone incisive, this is a tale to remember."--Publishers Weekly

"Against the dramatic backdrop of McCarthyism and the civil rights movement, a young Finnish woman living in the Midwest discovers the truth about her family while hiding her own secrets . . . Frahmann's story is an ambitious one, and his characters - especially Pauline - are intriguing." -- Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Dennis Frahmann is a former journalist, marketer and author of the novel, Tales From the Loon Town Cafe. He resides in Cambria, California.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00MAGHGFO
Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 30, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 716 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 326 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #1,073,480 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #4,898 in Cultural Heritage Fiction
- #422,447 in Literature & Fiction (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
164

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Dennis Frahmann

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Dennis Frahmann is a journalist, writer and award-winning marketer who grew up in small farming and resort towns in Wisconsin and now lives in the small seaside town of Cambria, California. He holds a B.A. from Ripon College in English and philosophy, and a masters in journalism from Columbia University. After an initial stint as a restaraunt reviewer and reporter for Mpls. St. Paul Magazine, Frahmann worked in marketing for a variety of high-tech companies, including Control Data, Xerox, and Sage. His most recent novel "The Long Table Dinner" is set on the Central Coast of California. His previous novel, "The Devil's Analyst," completes a trio of novels that interweave a related cast of characters and their same small hometown in northern Wisconsin. The earlier works are "Tales from the Loon Town Cafe" and "The Finnish Girl." You can learn more about Frahmann's works by visiting www.loontown.com, by friending facebook.com/loontowncafe, or by following the author @dfrahmann.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5

164 global ratings

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Karen Ziminski

Different!

Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2014

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Frahmann weaves a story around Finnish immigrants of the upper Midwest. Hard working farmers, bright upwardly mobile teenagers, campus radicals, and Communists--I've known them all, lived with some. My parents were friends with a couple who moved back to the Finnish-speaking part of Russia back in the 30s to help build Communism, became disillusioned, managed to escape, and ended up owning a little resort in Florida. I think it's great that Frahmann casts some light on that movement.

The only other book I know of that deals with this theme is "The Darkest Evening" by William Durbin. It's a good book suitable for teens and young adults.

Someone gave this book a bad review because of inauthentic vernacular of the period. I'm not sure what he was talking about. I didn't notice anything that sounded inauthentic. I thought the details and dialog were well done. I also liked the plot.

9 people found this helpful

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W. Wedenoja

A sad but interesting and informative tale

Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2021

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According to the Census Bureau, there were about 623,000 Americans of Finnish ancestry in 2019. The great majority of Finnish immigrants came between 1870 and 1930, with more than 200,000 between 1890 and 1914. They settled principally in three places - New England (NY, MA,PA), the Upper Midwest (MN, WI, MI, OH), and the Pacific Northwest (WA, OR). The novel Deep River by Karl Marlantes is an outstanding story about the Finnish emigrant experience (in farming, logging, fishing, and canning) in the Pacific Northwest, with emphasis on the Wobblies and union activities. The Finnish Girl takes the story to the Upper Midwest, specifically Wisconsin, where the greatest number of Finns settled. The story takes place in the period 1933-1983, and involves three generations. Eero emigrated from Finland and became a farmer in northern Wisconsin, marrying a Lutheran pastor's daughter Marja. They raised Lempi, the 'Finnish Girl', who is an activist, like Aino in Deep River, and is the focus of the book. Lempi is befriended by Pauline, who serves as her mentor, and marries mellow Toivo. She has a son Danny. Then there is Risto, one of Eero and Marja's sons, who has his own story, having volunteered to go to Karelia in the USSR to 'build socialism' along with about 10,000 other Finnish Americans. The book takes us through some tough times: Joe McCarthy and later Eugene McCarthy, the Progressive Movement, the Civil Rights movement, and the Vietnam War protests in particular. It is a sad, even tragic tale, but an interesting read for anyone who lived through that period, or for Finnish-Americans interested in their heritage, and perhaps for Wisconsinites. The characters are not well developed, in my opinion, but their lives are compelling nonetheless. What I got from this story is how each of us is shaped by the times we live in and our cultural heritage.

2 people found this helpful

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Juana Lucia

Thought-provoking but sad.

Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2015

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This book was about the ambitious goals of a second generation immigrant to make this country and the world a better place. Sadly, her hopes and goals were based in communism, which failed her and many others. It was an education to me to see the the struggle from another viewpoint, but I found it to be a sad story.

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Kenneth A. Shanahan

Loved this book and highly recommend it!

Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2014

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From the moment I started The Finnish Girl, I couldn't put it down. It is the story of an immigrant family and their journey in the United States. It's the story of why they came to America and what happened to them once they were here. It's a story of the impact of the geopolitics of this country and the impact those politics have on this simple family. It's a story of family secrets and the prices paid for those secrets. I loved each of the characters, how they were developed and how Frahmann exposes their stories to us.

I lived through the anti-war Gene McCarthy period and identified with Lempi Makinen Lahti. I will never forget her. Her story and her family's story will be with me forever. I hope I remember it's lessons.

5 people found this helpful

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Crafty Lady

The Finnish Girl

Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2015

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This is the story of a young girl and her family 's struggle to survive after the depression in the McCarthy era. This family has several strikes against it in that they are immigrants from Finland and have some communist ties. I read this with interest thinking of my carefree years at the same time these people were mistreated for little reason by our government. The story tells also of the brother's struggle with believing the communist doctrine and leaving for Russia to have a better life and also his harsh treatment. The story is slow sometimes but I learned from this and I will recommend.

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J. Trester

Well written, historical novel.

Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2015

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I got this book to better understand what my mother's parents' experience when they came to the U.S. from Finland. What I didn't expect was the way the story illuminated not only my own experience with the 1960's antiwar movement, but the story/history of the 1930's Karelian experiment and the McCarthy witchhunts. This is a well thought out, developing type of story, where you know how it ended, but not why it ended the way it did until the final chapters. I also like the fact that the story is developed through the viewpoints of more than one person and more than one generation. As such, it gives the reader a complete understanding of how historical and cultural factors molded each person and why they made the choices they made.

One person found this helpful

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Farmer's Wife

I finished reading the Finnish book!

Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2015

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Being half Finnish, I was delighted to see a book about a Finnish girl. My parents had a dog named Sisu (that's the only Finnish word I know), so I was tickled to learn that Lempi means love. Many of the statements about Finlanders were true for me, and that was both surprising and comforting. The style of writing was interesting, jumping from year to year and character to character, tying the whole story together in the process. Trust me, you don't need to be Finnish to enjoy this book. I think I'll read it again.

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