“Burning Cities” tells the story of Liisi, Peeter, and their daughter Tiina, who grows up amid the ruins of Tartu, in Soviet-era Estonia, in the years following the Second World War. It is a family history, composed of short chapters and written in an almost poetic style, told from the perspective of the child, Tiina.

“Gogol’s Disco” is a magic-realistic novel set in an imagined future Estonia, where the population has been deported and replaced by settlers following an invasion by the Russian Empire. The famous 19th-century Russian writer Nikolai Gogol is resurrected as a messianic, Christ-like figure, and brings mayhem to the settlers who live in the town of Viljandi.

“Don’t Leave Me Alone” is the autobiographical novel by Peeter Sauter about his relationship with his wife, Laura. The novel depicts simple, day-to-day situations, and provides a good portrayal of life and love in contemporary Tallinn.

“The Cavemen Chronicle” is a historical novel, exploring 20th-century Estonian history, from the Soviet era to the Estonian independence in the 1990s. The novel is centred around ‘The Cave’, an underground bar in Tallinn where the protagonists come together to drink and talk.

“The Willow King” is a historical novel about Laurentius Hylas, a medical student at the University of Tartu (then called Dorpat) in the late seventeenth century, who is searching a cure for melancholy. At the time, Estonia was part of the Swedish Empire.

In the novel “The Reconstruction”, Enn Padrik investigates the seemingly religiously inspired suicide of his daughter, Anni, at a commune near the Estonian town of Viljandi. He travels all-over Estonia and abroad to interview people who might hold clues to her mysterious death. As his investigation unfolds, Padrik gradually uncovers not only the truth about Anni’s death, but also deeper insights into her life, beliefs, and personality.

“Purge” is a novel by Sofi Oksanen, about two women, Aliide and Zara, who confront their dark past during the Soviet occupation of Estonia, spanning from the late 1930s to the early 1990s.

“The Same River” is a novel about an Estonian university student of Oriental studies in Soviet-era Tartu during the 1960s, who spends his summer in search of philosophical, mystical and sexual knowledge.

Set in a mythical version of Estonia in the Middle Ages, “The Man Who Spoke Snakish” is a novel with phantasy elements, about an ancient people living in the Estonian forests who speak “Snakish” with the animals. This people’s culture is in steep decline, with many leaving the forest to seek modern live in Estonian villages, embracing Christian religion instead of their ancient ‘pagan’ traditions.

“Between Three Plagues” is a series of historical novels about Balthasar Rossow, a humble peasants’ son who became Estonia’s most famous chronicler. Rossow, a historical figure, rose through the ranks to join the German-speaking upper classes of Tallinn and wrote the “Livonian Chronicle” about the 16th-century Livonian War between Russia, Denmark-Norway, Sweden, and Poland-Lithuania (Livonia covered parts of what are now Estonia and Latvia).