Not before sundown

Not before sundown (orig. fin. Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi, USA: Troll - a love story) is a novel written by a Finnish author Johanna Sinisalo in 2000. In the same year it won a Finlandia Prize for literature. Since then it has won several awards including The James Tiptree Jr. award in 2004 for works of science fiction or fantasy that expand or explore our understanding of gender.

The story is about a homosexual photographer Mikael, who finds a young and injured troll and takes it to his home. This troll is inspired by Finnish folklore and is an intelligent, almost human-like animal, and partakes, in appearance, of a cat and a monkey.

The name of the book is taken from a Finnish song Päivänsäde ja Menninkäinen by Tapio Rautavaara and Reino Helismaa, which says "Kas, menninkäinen ennen päivänlaskua ei voi milloinkaan olla päällä maan" (translated "A gnome can't live aboveground before sundown").

Translations

The novel has been translated into the following languages:

• Sweden: Bara sedan solen sjunkit, publisher Wahlström & Widstrand, Stockholm, 2002, translator Ann-Christine Relander.
• Latvia: Pirs saulrieta nav lauts, publisher Atena, Riga, 2002, translator Maima Grinberga.
• Japan: Tenshi wa mori e kieta, publisher Sunmark Publishing, Tokyo, 2002, translator Mei Yumi.
• UK: Not Before Sundown, publisher Peter Owen Publishers, London, 2003, translator Herbert Lomas.
• France: Jamais avant le coucher du soleil, publisher Actes Sud, Arles, 2003, translator Anne Colin du Terrail.
• Czech: Ne pred slunce západem, publisher One Woman Press, Prague, 2003, translator Viola Parente-Capková.
• USA (edited from the British version): Troll – A Love Story; publisher Grove/Atlantic, translator Herbert Lomas, 2004.
• Germany: Troll - Eine Liebesgeschichte, Tropen, 2005 (other information missing).
• Poland: Nie przed zachodem slonca, publisher slowo/obraz terytoria, 2005, translator Sebastian Musielak.
• Spain: Angel y el troll "Una fábula sólo para adultos", publisher Ediciones Poliedro 2006, translator Bengt Oldenburg.
• Russia: Throll, publisher Amphora, Moscow, 2006, translators E. Ioffe, L. Virolainen

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