''The Fugitives'' ( fi, Pakolaiset) is a

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

by Finnish writer

Johannes Linnankoski Johannes Linnankoski (originally Vihtori Johan Peltonen, 18 October 1869 – 10 August 1913) was a Finland, Finnish author and playwright, which mainly influenced writing in the Golden Age of Finnish Art. His most famous work is the romance novel ...

, published in 1908, and it is considered to be one of the author's most significant works, alongside ''

The Song of the Blood-Red Flower , translator = W. J. Alexander Worster , image = Thesongofthebloodredflower 1921.jpg , caption = A hardcover of the 1921 English version , author = Johannes Linnankoski , illustrator = , cover_artist = , count ...

''. Set in Tavastia, a story is about

agrarian society An agrarian society, or agricultural society, is any community whose economy is based on producing and maintaining crops and farmland. Another way to define an agrarian society is by seeing how much of a nation's total production is in agriculture ...

and

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

s pride and reconciliation. The work has been translated up to eleven languages. The story based on the actual events; at the time of writing the novella, Johannes Linnankoski lived at

Lapinlahti Lapinlahti (; sv, Lapinlahti, also ) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Northern Savonia region, located north of the city of Kuopio. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The populatio ...

in 1902, when the peasant family from

Akaa Akaa ( sv, Ackas) is a town and a municipality in Pirkanmaa, Finland. It was created on January 1, 2007 when the town of Toijala and the municipality of Viiala were united into a single town. The municipality of Kylmäkoski was consolidated with ...

settled there, and like in novella, an old couple's daughter had married an elderly widow but had an

illegitimate child Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...

with another man. Shame on adultery and fear of gossip was apparently the real reason for the move to Savonia. Linnankoski transferred the events to his story. Located in the village of Alapitkä, the Hovi House, where Linnankoski lived, was at the center of the book.

Television adaptation

Based on the story, a

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

''Pakolaiset'' directed and written by was made in 1977, starring

Vilho Siivola Vilho Siivola (10 April 1910 – 28 November 1984) was a Finnish actor, film director, television director and a member of the Council of Theatre. Siivola was born in Valkeakoski. His career included theatre, where he was both an actor and a di ...

, and

Eva Eklund Eva Anni Sofie Eklund (17 December 1922– 19 November 2015), later Eva Høgh-Petersen, was a Swedish-Danish dancer, singer, composer and restaurateur. Biography Eklund began her career as a model and dancer at the Pantomime Theatre in Tivol ...

.Pakolaiset , Kansallinen audiovisuaalinen instituutti
(in Finnish)

References

External links

Project Runeberg Project Runeberg ( sv, Projekt Runeberg) is a digital cultural archive initiative that publishes free electronic versions of books significant to the culture and history of the Nordic countries. Patterned after Project Gutenberg, it was founded ...

. 1908 novels Novels set in Finland Works published under a pseudonym Novels adapted into television shows 20th-century Finnish novels Finnish novels adapted into films {{1900s-novel-stub