''Pirkkalan pyhät pihlajat'' (Finnish: ''The Holy Rowan Trees of Pirkkala'') is a historical romance novel by the Finnish author

Kaari Utrio Kaari Marjatta Utrio (born 28 July 1942, official surname Utrio-Linnilä, formerly Virkajärvi) is a Finnish writer. She has written over 35 historical novels and 13 non-fiction books on historical topics. She is a historian, holding the degree ...

, first published in 1976. The novel is divided into six parts. The first part sets the historical background from AD 800 to 1250 for the location of the holy

rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus ''Sorbus'' is a genus of over 100 species of trees and shrubs in the rose family, Rosaceae. Species of ''Sorbus'' (''s.l.'') are commonly known as whitebeam, r ...

trees of Pirkkala. The other five parts each have their own first person narrator (Filippa, Aleidis Ragvaldintytär, Kaarle Kustaanpoika, Barbara Catillina and Tuomas Haukka, respectively). The parts are divided into chapters and concentrate on years AD 1280–1282 with flashbacks to earlier times. The 2017 play ''Pirkkalan pihlajat'', written by Olavi Horsma-aho and directed by , is based on the novel.

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* Novels by Kaari Utrio 1976 novels Tammi (company) books 1970s Finnish novels Finnish historical novels Historical romance novels Novels adapted into plays Novels set in the 13th century {{1970s-hist-novel-stub