We Sinners

The Rovaniemis & their 9 children belong to a deeply traditional church (no drinking, no dancing, no TV) in modern-day Michigan. A normal family in many ways, the Rovaniemis struggle with sibling rivalry, parental expectations, & forming their own unique identities in such a large family. But when two of the children venture from the faith, the family fragments & a haunting question emerges: Do we believe for ourselves, or for each other? Each chapter is told from the distinctive point of view of a different Rovaniemi, drawing a nuanced, kaleidoscopic portrait of this unconventional family. The children who reject the church learn that freedom comes at the almost unbearable price of their close family ties, & those who stay struggle daily with the challenges of resisting the temptations of modern culture. With precision & potent detail, We Sinners follows each character on their journey of doubt, self-knowledge, acceptance, and, ultimately, survival. 

°°° 

Hanna Pylväinen is the author of the novel We Sinners, which received a Whiting Award & a Balcones Fiction Prize. Her work has appeared in Harper’s Magazine, the NY Times, the NY Times Magazine, Chicago Tribune, & the Wall Street Journal; she is the recipient of fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the American-Scandinavian Foundation, & the Dorothy & Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars & Writers at the NY Public Library, as well as residencies from MacDowell, Yaddo, & the Lásságámmi Foundation. She has taught at the U. of Michigan, Princeton U., Virginia Commonwealth U; currently, she is on the faculty at the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers