Description

Philippa Laakso was many things to many people. Caring and selfish. Kind to some, cruel to others. And now, she was dead.

When seventeen-year-old Philippa’s body is found in the yard outside her home, the police launch an investigation. Everyone close to her is questioned: The elderly neighbour who discovered her body, who kept confusing Philippa with his late wife. The best friend, who hoards a secret stash of objects she’d stolen from Philippa over the years. The ex-boyfriend, still reeling from their sudden break-up months before. The woman who features, enraged, in some of the strange videos Philippa filmed on her beloved PEN Olympus camera. The older men she’d been meeting via a dating app.

Each tells a different story: she was a confidant, a fantasy, a temptation, a problem, a mystery, a mirror. But did any of them truly know her?

Enchantment is a spellbinding literary mystery that explores the uneasy terrain of girlhood, where one is always being watched, shaped, and judged by others. In it, Riikka Pulkkinen weaves a complex story of power, identity, and the fragile boundary between truth and fiction.

Publisher Review

‘An intricate tapestry of a novel by a masterful writer. Enchantment’s real triumph is its investigation into what we mean to one another as imperfect people. I wanted to savour every sentence of this structurally impressive novel.’ — Catherine Airey, author of Confessions ‘Riikka Pulkkinen is a Finnish Joyce Carol Oates.’ * Livres Hebdo * Praise for The Limit:

‘One of the most intelligent philosophical novels in recent years’. * De Morgen * Praise for The Limit:

‘A quiet, mature novel … Pulkkinen explores the limits of people’s control over their own actions and circumstances.’ — Kerryn Goldsworthy * Sydney Morning Herald * Praise for True:

‘Pulkkinen spins variations of [the] theme of transformative identity, having characters periodically relate to one another as if they were improv artists.’ * New York Times Book Review * Praise for True:

‘A beautiful, sensuous novel.’ * Library Journal *