Summary of PurgeÂ
“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.
Reasons to read Purge
The central themes of “Purge” are Estonian resistance to Soviet rule and sexual violence (including sex trafficking and rape), making it a potentially challenging read for sensitive readers. The novel was a bestseller in Estonia, Finland, and internationally, and won many literary awards, including the Finlandia Prize (2008), the Runeberg Prize (2009), the Nordic Council Literature Prize (2010), the Prix Femina étranger (2010), the Fnac prize (2010), and the European Book Prize (2010). Originally written in Finnish, “Purge” is based on Oksanen’s play of the same name. In 2012, it was adapted into a Finnish film. Other recommended books by the Finnish-Estonian author Sofi Oksanen include “When the Doves Disappeared” (set in Estonia) and “Stalin’s Cows” (set mainly in Finland).
Setting: Estonia & Russia
Book set in Estonia: A village in Läänemaa (West-Estonia), Tallinn, and Vladivostok (Russia)
Original title: Puhdistus
Year of publication: 2008
Nr of pages: 388
