The Beggar and the Hare - Tuomas Kyro
The Beggar and the Hare by Tuomas Kyro is a novel that asks the question can a beggar and a hare change not just the course of a country, but the way we see ourselves? Vatanescu, an impoverished construction worker, wants a future for himself and a pair of football boots for his son. So he decides to head north to a cold, dark country where there is money to be made. Taking up with a Russian human trafficker, he joins the bottom rung of a begging ring in Finland. But the prospects in this line of work are not as good as he had hoped, and soon Vatanescu is on the run. His luck finally turns when he meets a fellow outcast, a hare fleeing Helsinki pest control. The pair embark on a journey that is funny, dark and wonderfully absurd.