During a recent trip to Sweden, I got a brief insight into Sámi culture (Scandinavia’s indigenous people) and came away keen to pick up some books by Sámi writers. Stolen is the acclaimed novel by Ann-Helén Laestadius, a Sámi writer of Tornedalian descent. It tells the story of Elsa who lives north of the Arctic Circle with her family, making their living herding reindeer. The novel beautifully captures how the reindeer mean much more to them than just a livelihood; strong bonds form, in particular from when the animals are young. One of these bonds is shattered one morning when nine-year-old Elsa is out skiing alone. What she witnesses upends her life, sparking a chain of events that place both her and her family in danger. Battling with the secret of what she has seen, and the weight of the injustice perpetrated against her people, this coming-of-age story has at its heart a protagonist who is at times fierce, at times frightened, but never without courage and a deep sense of understanding of the place she too deserves in the world. Years later, as the injustice and persecution continue, Elsa starts to fight back, leading the novel to a dramatic conclusion. 

I loved this book. It’s tough reading at times, filling the reader with a sense of frustration for the characters’ hardships and losses, and anger at those who wrong them and drive them to desperate measures. The novel explores themes of family and community; of prejudice, oppression and police inaction; of the place women hold in the community and the expectations that restrict them; and of the struggle between silence as a personal safeguard and silence that allows injustice to prevail. Laestadius’ atmospheric writing beautifully captures the snow-covered landscape, the extreme cold and hardship of life so far North, while also capturing the pride in a way of life so embedded in nature and ancient tradition. I loved learning more about Sámi culture, from the traditional outfits (gákti) to the home-made foods, singing, and more. Through the intergenerational cast we also learn more about how the generations before Elsa would have been affected by persecution. An eye-opening and highly recommended read.

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Stolen is published by Simon & Schuster.

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Ann-Helén Laestadius is an author and journalist from Kiruna, Sweden. She is Sámi and of Tornedalian descent, two of Sweden’s national minorities. In 2016, Laestadius was awarded the prestigious August Prize for Best Young Adult and Children’s Novel for Ten Past One, for which she was also awarded Norrland’s Literature Prize. She is the author of Stolen—which was named Sweden’s Book of the Year, longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, and adapted for a Netflix film—and Punished, both #1 bestsellers in Sweden.