Kotimaa: Homeland

The final chapter in Mark’s Finnish American trilogy. Follow the journey of Anders Alhomäki from Finland to Norway to Duluth, Minnesota, to the UP of Michigan as he struggles to find his place in the world. Grab an armchair seat for the present-day thriller of religious zealotry on the eve of Finland’s Centennial Celebration that targets a high ranking official in the Finnish government for her support of Muslim immigration. Here’s what some folks are already saying about this stellar, timely, touching, and thrilling work of fiction founded on solid research and exemplary writing:

“Suspense, drama, love, lack of love, history, and present-day events … the perfect package!” Irina Björklund, Jussi Award winning actress

“A remarkable ending to a remarkable series. The perfect read for those interested in neglected pages of US history, the Finns, and Finland.” Roman Kushnir, PhD Candidate (Finnish American Literature) University of Jyväskylä, Finland

“Munger has written an exciting and historically accurate depiction of Finnish migration. The culmination of years of researching and writing, Kotimaa is a fast paced historical novel and thriller which will appeal to everyone who reads.” Olavi Koivukangas, former Director, Institute of Migration, Turku, Finland

“Told through the narratives of Finnish struggles against the backdrop of history, Kotimaa is a gripping read!” Linda LeGarde Grover, Flannary O’Connor Award winning author

“Am enlightening read for anyone of Finnish ancestry, Kotimaa is part historical novel, part mystery, and part migrant saga in which Munger presents us with a century of exhaustively researched history.” Sarah Stonich, award winning author of Laurentian Divide and Vacationland.

From the prestigious book reviewers at Kirkus Reviews (Nov. 2019 issue):

” Munger’s prose capably summons the stark landscapes of the novel, which embody both melancholy and understated beauty: ‘Across the bleak land, a lantern twinkled in a window. He moved quickly; the rhythm of skiing as innate as walking to a young boy of the north.’ It’s a sprawling novel, as one would expect from the third volume in a historical (sections 1 and 3) and the contemporary (sections 2 and 4). There is quite a bit of coincidence at work, but perhaps that is par for this genre, which usually seeks to reveal continuities between people and across time. The Anders sections, in particular, manage to evoke the deliberative naturalism of Upton Sinclair and Theodore Dreiser, and Munger effectively maintains this strategy even into the sections set in 2017. His attempts to grapple with current immigration issues, including Syrian refugees in Europe and the election of Donald Trump, make for a complex yet appropriate end to a series that is essentially a long meditation on leaving home and building another life somewhere else. Fans of A detailed, wide-lens historical novel of Finnish-Americans then and now.”

And praise as well from Migration magazine:

“Kotimaa is a remarkable, enlightening and enticing read. It suits well both for those, who are interested in the history of Finland and Finnish America, and for those, who are sim- ply looking for a good book. A great finale of the great series! The author’s 16 years of re- search and writing were definitely not in vain.”

Roman Kushnir, MA, Doctoral student, University of Jyväskylä, Language and Communication Studies.

And the most recent review from Lake Superior Magazine:

“I found myself mining copper in Finland, then chipping away at the native copper oxide in Michigan’s UP, and the pendulum relentlessly swings between settling Syrian refugees in Europe and choosing a loose-cannon president to govern our changing nation…

Mark’s design of this novel can best summed up as complicated and twisting. So read it in a quiet place without distraction. It is Munger at his most cerebral, and you’ll soon discover and respond to his challenge.”

Donn Larson, Lake Superior Magazine. (March, 2020)