A LIFE IN A DAY

<p><strong>Through the lens of a single day we are offered a glimpse of the whole life of Hilkka Mednis. </strong></p><p> </p><p>One of five daughters of Pauli and Anne Polvinen Hilkka enjoyed a happy early childhood until her mother died in childbirth. Then at the age of thirteen on the invasion of Finland by the Red Army she together with her father and three of her sisters were deported to Siberia.</p><p>On the day she finds out her son an up and coming ballet dancer has defected Hilkka describes her experiences including the interrogation and in so doing we are dipped into the tough mundane and sometimes sublime nature of Soviet life.</p><p> </p><p>Whilst the book is set in the past it is very much about determination grit bravery and resilience the Finnish term for which is 'sisu'.</p>