In the harsh landscape of a Depression-era Northern Ontario mining town, Finnish immigrant sisters Hanna and Essi Kivi scrape together a living as domestic workers, sharing a room in a disreputable boarding house owned by a protective madame.

When Hanna’s body is discovered in the icy waters of Nolin Creek, the police call it a tragic accident. But Essi knows better. Her sister would never have risked crossing unstable ice—not after they lost their youngest sister Martta to drowning years before.

Haunted by guilt and driven by loyalty, Essi begins to unravel the secrets Hanna kept hidden. As Essi digs deeper into her sister’s final days, she discovers that in a town built on desperation and dreams for a better future, everyone has something to hide.

A gripping tale of love, family, sisterhood, and the search for truth.

About Global Book Awards

The Global Awards aim to discover new talent as well as recognize fine examples of self-published books. As such, we hope they will give self-published authors the recognition they deserve, whether that is in their writing creativity, or in the way they have marketed their books to attract new readers. In this modern age of self-publishing, books need to be appraised not only by their content and writing style, but also by the way they present and market themselves to the prospective buyer, whether that is in the good ratings it has on important stores like Amazon, its book cover and description, or the number of reviews it has collected. They must also appeal to new readers so part of the evaluation included a survey asking avid readers to select the top 5 books they enjoyed the most.

About Liisa:

Liisa Kovala is a Finnish Canadian author, book coach, and podcaster. Like Water for Weary Souls (2025) is her second historical novel. Liisa is the author of Sisu’s Winter War
(Latitude 46, 2022) and Surviving Stutthof: My Father’s Memories Behind the Death Gate
(Latitude 46, 2017) which was shortlisted for a Northern Lit Award and published in Finland by Docendo (2020). Liisa lives with her husband in Greater Sudbury, Ontario. She is inspired by her Finnish heritage and the northern landscape she calls home. Learn more about Liisa at liisakovalabookcoach.com and visit liisakovalawomenwriting.substack.com

To request additional review copies or an interview with Liisa Kovala, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925.

We look forward to the coverage!