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Life's Captivity

Sharon Gricol

4.5 (2 Ratings) Rate It

Book

TWO-TIME AWARD WINNER: First Place "Religious Fiction" Next Generation Indie Book Awards, 2010 and...

Naked at the Albert Hall: The Inside Story of Singing

Tracey Thorn

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

In her bestselling autobiography Bedsit Disco Queen, Tracey Thorn recalled the highs and lows of a...

ClareR (6067 KP) rated Lowest Common Denominator in Books

Feb 10, 2026 - 3:40 PM

I believe Lowest Common Denominator is going to be a trilogy, and after reading this, I’m all for reading the next two.

LCD bounces around somewhat in time from toddlerhood to the present day. It’s auto fiction, really, although I had to double check that. So I suppose it’s a mix of Saisio’s autobiography that has been fictionalised in places.

I found the details of a child growing up in Finland, Saisio’s communist parents, along with 1950’s Finnish life, fascinating. It also made me curious about the war and occupation of the Russians in Finland, and I consequently did a bit of background reading about that.

I love reading translated books, and the translator, Mia Spangenberg, has made sure that this has lost none of its humour. The relationships between the narrator and their family members are so well drawn. Their experiences, traumas, upbringings and their expectations of this small child make for an engrossing read.