'Playful and profound... a captivating glimpse into twentieth-century Finland through the eyes
of a charismatic child narrator. I loved it' Fiona Mozley 'Grandma made me take lots of
naps. She believed sleep was the most important thing in the world for children. And that
adults should be allowed to drink their afternoon coffee in peace.' In this charming
patchwork of fever dreams and memories Pirkko Saisio transports us to the 1950s Finland of her
youth where she navigates life as an only child of communist parents. Convinced she will grow
up to become a man a young Pirkko keeps trying and failing to meet the expectations of the
adults around her. But as she discovers that she can be the narrator of her own story it is in
language that she finds a refuge and a way to be seen at last. In a world where
mascara-streaked mermaids dodge tennis balls a beloved green cap is stolen by the Big Bad Wolf
and the first tugs of infatuation are inspired by a swimsuit-clad circus announcer Saisio
captures the heart-wrenching intensity of childhood as it floods back in the wake of her
father's death. Deeply moving and disarmingly funny Lowest Common Denominator is the first
volume in a trilogy that has been celebrated in Finland as the best work of the century.
