The Rabbit Back Literature Society (Lumikko ja yhdeksän muuta – literal translation: Least Weasel and Nine Others) is a mystery novel by Finnish author Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen, first published in its original Finnish in 2006 before being translated into English in 2014.
The plot concerns Ella Amanda Milano, a high school literature teacher in the town of Rabbit Back who is invited to join the prestigious and renowned Rabbit Back Literature Society, a club of nine famous Finnish authors and literary superstars who were mentored by the society’s famous founder, the children’s author Laura White since they were children. However, at the night of a reunion for the members of the society Laura White mysteriously vanishes, seemingly swept away by a blizzard from inside her own home. With the media descending upon the peaceful and tranquil town and perplexing reactions from the other society members Ella decides to delve into the world of the society, its writers and their works, a world that has fascinated her since childhood and intermingled with the lives of the townsfolk.
The debut novel from Jääskeläinen, The Rabbit Black Literature Society is a postmodern mystery with clear influence from Haruki Murakami through the use of Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane and Magic Realism to create an ambiguous atmosphere with thick layers of Meta Fiction through critical discussions of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, fictional children’s books and articles from the coverage of White’s disappearance.
The Rabbit Back Literature Society provides examples of:
- Big Fancy House: Laura White's.
- Dark Secret: The society definitely has at least one.
- Hollywood Autism
- Geek Physiques: Matti Winter is a chubby example.
- Most Writers Are Writers
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Laura White and the series of children's books, the Creaturevile series she is most famous for is likely to be based on Finnish children's author Tove Jansson, creator of The Moomins.
- This is especially noticeable with emphasis that Laura White's first Creatureville book was only a moderate success and it was the second that enshrined her reputation similar to how Comet in Moominland was when The Moomins became a worldwide phenomenon and beloved critical success.
- Creatureville also seems to have quite a fanbase in Japan, where The Moomins have been adapted more than once.
- One-Paragraph Chapter
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: An unintentional example. Oskar Södergran, the autistic boy who would visit Laura White’s house and scribble down ideas into a notebook that would later serve as a well of inspiration for the other members, before his own death in an accident according to his mother’s letter to Laura White.
- Scary Librarian: Ingrid Katz gives off shades of this, especially in her more ambiguous moments.
- Show Within a Show: The Creatureville books.
- World of Mysteries
