9 h 6 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if learning to read feels harder than carving a life out of the wilderness?
On Jukola farm in southern Finland, seven orphaned brothers answer to no parents—and resist almost everyone else. In Aleksis Kivi’s Seven Brothers, proud Juhani wants to lead, thoughtful Aapo tries to keep the peace, and sharp young Eero has a gift for words. But the village demands something they hate: reading lessons.
Without reading, the church will not confirm them or recognize them as full adults. Quarrels turn into fights, and trouble with neighbours and the law drives the brothers toward the forest. At Impivaara, they seek a life beyond other people’s commands. Yet land must be cleared, food earned, and freedom weighed against their wish to belong.
What you’ll discover
- Seven clashing temperaments Meet brothers whose anger, kindness, wit and loyalty make every family quarrel feel alive.
- A schoolroom rebellion Follow a battle over reading that puts pride and the right to belong at stake.
- Life beyond the village Enter a forest world of hard work, animal encounters, harsh weather and nights of fear.
- Earthy humour and affection Enjoy a narrator who teases the brothers without losing his warmth toward them.
- The pull of belonging Explore what happens when the hunger for independence meets the need for other people.
Who will love it
For readers who love earthy comic novels, family stories and tales about outsiders, and anyone curious about Finland and its literature.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Seven brothers own a wild farm
- Reading is the thing they refuse
- Fists answer every insult
- The forest calls them away
- Work, fire and sauna at Impivaara
- Beasts, hunts and nights of fear
- Freedom and belonging pull against each other
- A family of seven clashing temperaments
- How Kivi tells it: humour, song and a new language
Who’s who
- JuhaniThe eldest brother, loud, proud and quick to anger, who wants to lead the family and never to be commanded by anyone.
- TuomasA stubborn, powerful brother who plants his feet and will not be moved, and who stands loyally beside the others in every quarrel.
- AapoThe thoughtful peacemaker of the family, calm and clever, who tries to keep his brothers out of trouble and together.
- SimeoniA dreamy, easily frightened brother with a weakness for drink, teased by the others and yet cared for by them.
- TimoA gentle and simple brother, kind-hearted and patient, who is often the butt of jokes but never loses his good nature.
- LauriA quiet brother who loves the woods and solitude, and who often slips away from the noise of the farmhouse.
- EeroThe youngest, sharp and quick, who has the most talent for words and the most ability to learn from books.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 9 h 6 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 13 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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I sette fratelli
by Aleksis Kivi · 1870
On the Jukola farm, seven unruly orphans defy village rules and seek freedom in the forest.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Seven Brothers is the first great novel written in the Finnish language. Aleksis Kivi began publishing it in parts in 1870, when Finland was a poor, mostly rural land under Russian rule, and when most educated people still wrote in Swedish.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Seven brothers own a wild farm
The story opens at Jukola, a farm in the Hame region of southern Finland. The brothers live there with no parents left to command them. They are Juhani, Tuomas, Aapo, Simeoni, Timo, Lauri and Eero, listed from the eldest to the youngest. Kivi makes each one a person you can tell apart within a few pages.
Juhani is the eldest and the loudest. He is quick to anger, quick to laugh, and always ready to boast of what he can do with his fists. Tuomas is the stubborn one, a big man who digs in his heels and cannot be moved by talk. Aapo is the thoughtful brother, calm and clever, the one who most often tries to hold the others together when a quarrel is brewing.
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What is Seven Brothers by Aleksis Kivi about?
It is about seven orphaned brothers on the Jukola farm in southern Finland. They refuse to learn to read, fight with neighbours and the law, and retreat to the forest, where they build a life of their own.
Who are the seven brothers in Seven Brothers?
They are Juhani, Tuomas, Aapo, Simeoni, Timo, Lauri and Eero, from eldest to youngest. Juhani is the loudest, Aapo the peacemaker, and Eero the sharpest and most able with words.
When was Seven Brothers written and is it a true story?
Kivi began publishing it in parts in 1870, and it appeared as a book after his death in 1872. It is fiction, but it draws on real rural life in nineteenth-century Finland.
The author
Aleksis Kivi
1834–1872 · Finnish novelist and playwright
Aleksis Kivi was a Finnish writer born in Nurmijärvi, Finland, in 1834. His birth name was Alexis Stenvall. He wrote in Finnish and published plays, poetry, and fiction. His novel Seven Brothers appeared in 1870. He also lived in Helsinki and Siuntio. He died in Tuusula in 1872.
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