Marja-Liisa Vartio (1924-1966) is considered one of the foremost innovators of consciousness representation in Finnish post-war modernism. Mysterious Minds, the first study to examine this subject in depth, explores the portrayal of fictional minds in her novels.

The volume suggests alternative methods for reading Vartio's fictional minds not only as private, solipsistic, and self-reflective consciousnesses, but also as social, collective, and interconnected entities. These intermental minds sometimes remain unreadable and mysterious even to the characters of her novels themselves.

The volume is an enjoyable and beneficial read both for students and scholars sharing an interest in recent cognitive and affective narrative studies, and for anyone interested in Vartio's work.