TITLE—Stolen (Swedish: Stöld)

AUTHOR—Ann-Helén Laestadius

TRANSLATOR—Rachel Willson-Broyles (Swedish —> English)

PUBLISHED—2021 (trans. 2023)

PUBLISHER—Romanus & Selling (trans. Scribner—Simon & Schuster)

GENRE—contemporary literary fiction; modern classic

SETTING—Sápmi, colonized as Sweden, Finland, & Norway

MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—coming of age & Sámi childhood experience, Sámi reindeer lifeways, the insidious effects of culturcide & christian fascism, skipped generations & failed eldership, suicide of Indigenous youth, colonial-patriarchy in Indigenous communities, systemic (esp. police) & societal (settlers & their children) racism, school bullying, tourism & cultural appropriation, how Indigeneity is about a lot more than just blood-ties

WRITING STYLE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

CHARACTERS—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

STORY/PLOT—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

BONUS ELEMENT/S—I really appreciated the inclusion of the character Minna—would have loved to have met her mother, the duodji artist.

PHILOSOPHY—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

PREMISE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

EXECUTION—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I put off reading this book for sooo long because of the CWs & even having all the spoilers & feeling safe & well-supported, this was still one of the hardest books I’ve ever read. The only thing that made it all “okay” is how intentional all the author’s choices were and how clearly she wanted to demonstrate the role of the reindeer not just economically & agriculturally, but culturally & spiritually for the Sámi people as well.

I really appreciated Laestadius’s complex, relatable characters and her thoughtful handling of themes such as inherited trauma, racism, suicide, & grief. Similarly to GoldenEagle’s THE NARROWS OF FEAR (WAPAWIPOSCIKANIK), the villain POV parts were super rough to read and I definitely skipped over at least one whole chapter, but justice through Spirit was again the trajectory of that arc. Overall the story was profoundly moving, delicately rendered, and powerfully articulated. Plus the ending was solid.

I would recommend this book to fans of Louise Erdrich. This book is best read gently and optimistically.

Final note: I’m still looking forward to reading the English translations of books two and three in the trilogy when they are published.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

CW // graphic(!!!) animal cruelty (reindeer 💔) including torture, indiscriminate killing, & other kinds of serious abuse—and it’s not just one scene it’s multiple scenes throughout 😵‍💫, ecocide, suicide of Indigenous youth, nomad school, genocide, culturcide & christian fascism, graphic racism, Alzheimer’s, grief, birth complications, home invasion (Please feel free to DM me for more specifics!)

Season: Winter

“Her grandmother had a word for everything, but only in Sámi. In Swedish, Áhkku felt she had too few words, but sometimes she couldn't speak Sámi without having to mix in some Swedish… According to Áhkku, Swedish was missing the melody of the heart.”

“Once you had gazed into a reindeer’s eyes and understood, you realized you had no choice but to be right there.”

“She'd always had a hard time understanding Marika. Not talking to your kids? How ridiculous was that? Sometimes it was so obvious that she hadn't grown up around reindeer. She might wear a gákti and speak Sámi, but there were some things she would never fully understand.”

“Over the past few years, this was their ritual. When they were little, they came along with Hanna and watched her plant flowers or light candles.

When they got old enough to do it on their own, Hanna didn't come as often. She didn't believe he was there anyway. And forgiveness seemed far off. But it was seldom to anyone's advantage to be angry at the dead.”

“She shuddered and placed her palm over [his] smiling face. What if it was the ones who took their own lives that were doing the right thing? The ones who said they couldn't take it anymore and left behind everything that hurt. The ones who made a statement to the whole world. See what vou drive us to do? We can't take it anymore. We would rather kill ourselves than watch our reindeer be tortured and killed while we listen to how much you hate us. We would rather kill ourselves than watch you take our land for a mine that won't give you more than a decade's work, tops.”

“‘I don't think anyone who doesn't have reindeer can really understand.

It hurts.’ Her voice cracked and she cleared her throat. ‘We don't just work with the reindeer, they're part of our way of life. And when no one cares when our reindeer are killed, it…’ …It was always harder to keep going once her anger had drained away. When hopelessness took over. When the feeling that nothing mattered struck her full force.”

“Being Sámi meant carrying your history with you, to stand before that heavy burden as a child and choose to bear it or not. But how could you choose not to bear your family's history and carry on your inheritance? … [He] had tried, he wavered and he bore it, but in the end he couldn't manage any longer. But it wasn't acceptable, to say you wanted a different life. And she hadn't listened, that was the truth. She had been impressed by him, by his desire for the other possibilities life had to offer; she had believed that he was the one who would dare to do what no one else did. But she had misunderstood, and it was all her fault. No matter which way she looked at those last days with him, she always came to the same conclusion. She should have noticed, and she should have helped. She would not fail with Jon-Isak, because she had removed her guiding hand from his life.”

“‘Forget those old men. You did the right thing.’

‘There's no such thing as doing the right thing here, you know that.’”

“You have to laugh, or you'll die on the inside. Every part of you wil store it up, you know. Your body stores pain.”

“How much longer would they manage to sew their gákti, joik along with the songs, and party the night away? Only to wake up to a perfectly ordinary day and nothing had changed.”

“They walked in opposite directions to their respective schools, their faces storm clouds. The schoolyard between them was a war zone. They were only picking up where their fathers had left off once upon a time.”

“At the very back of the garage, next to big plastic bins, were the skis Elsa had received when she was nine. They looked brand-new, hardly used. The skis were a curse—so she'd thought as a child. They brought misfortune; she and the skis brought death with them. She'd been on them when she found Nástegallu and when Lasse towed her behind his snowmobile for the last time. So it was only right that the skis should stay in a corner until she grew too tall to use them. Mom had wanted to sell them, but how could they allow the accursed skis to be handed over to another child? She couldn't say so to Mom, but she averted her eyes awfully fast and shook her head every time anyone mentioned selling them. So the skis had stayed. Now she wished they'd been burned up long ago. They were like a branding scar, a reminder of everything she could have, and should have, kept from happening. Still, she let her hand run over one ski before she took out her new ones.”

“Then he was there with her. This was nothing unusual or strange. His laughter in her ear, the sensation of him. There were never any words, but she smiled, affirming his presence. He didn't weigh on her, and when he vanished he did so without leaving her feeling abandoned. Just certain that this wasn't the last time she'd feel him there with her. No one knew about these moments, and she didn't want to tell anyone. Not that they would think it was strange, but sometimes talk could ruin a thing.”

“Yes. She closed her eyes. Yes, they'd still been there, shining their head lights on the reindeer when the patrol showed up. The policemen weren't sure how to react at first, hadn't known how to respond to that silence.

They had approached the bodies of the reindeer with awkward steps and mumbling voices, clearly bothered about being observed. The breath of the reindeer herders turned to frosty vapor. In the end, they didn't have the strength to be angry. There was only room for the deepest sorrow. Once the reindeer had been taken away, they turned off their headlights and sat in silence in the dark.”

“‘I'll handle it.’

‘How?’

‘I'll handle it, Elsa.’

That meant a half hearted email would go out to all the parents. An email that certain types would respond to—those who didn't appreciate that their well-behaved children should have to be caught up in a collective punishment even though they were always obedient. And those who felt a jab of pain in their chests and wondered if they shouldn't just give up, move to town, and start over. They wrote in on occasion, demanding action, but what could be done when the hatred didn't actually come from the children?”

“And they forgot about the children. The ones on the precipice of a new life. Yes, that was how Elsa thought of it, a precipice they must choose to fly over or fall. …the teenagers who were hesitant to choose the reindeer because they didn't want to be the last generation in the reindeer forest, when everything went to hell once and for all. Being forced to choose something other than your family's inheritance, out of fear.”

“But Elsa didn't feel derision for these folks; she never had. She imagined there must be some grief there. Maybe it hadn't been their choice

to go a different direction; there were so many choices that no one had made out of free will. But she also didn't want them to come here and pretend; no, they should show a little humility when they made a guest appearance during an activity whose importance they didn't understand.”

“‘I don't own you, you belong to yourself. You are only mine on loan.’ The reindeer were biekka oapmi, belonging to the wind. Addjá had explained this to her carefully when she was little. You must never brag about your reindeer herd, and you must be aware that your good fortune with them could vanish at any moment. You must take nothing for granted; a reindeer herd was never a constant.”

Relentlessly bleak, way too long, frustrating and kinda repetitive. It could have benefited from better editing. It would have made for a stronger, more affecting novel had it been shorter and more to the point. This story didn’t need more that 200 pages… A huge trigger warning for anyone who can’t stand reading about animals being tortured, mutilated, killed. It was horrible and I wish I had skipped those paragraphs. 

Title: Stolen
Author: Ann-Helén Laestadius
Series: Sapmitrilogin #1
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.25
Pub Date: January 31, 2023

T H R E E • W O R D S

Quiet • Compelling • Cinematic

📖 S Y N O P S I S

It is winter, north of the Arctic Circle. A few hours of pale light is all the sun has to offer before the landscape is once more enveloped in complete darkness. This is Sápmi, land of the Sámi, Scandinavia’s Indigenous people.

Nine-year-old Elsa is the daughter of Sámi reindeer herders. Her community is under constant threat—from the Swedish population who don’t always value the Sámi way of life, from the government that wants to claim their land for mining, and from violent poachers who slaughter their reindeer for sport and for sale on the black market.

One morning, when Elsa goes skiing alone, she witnesses a man brutally killing her beloved reindeer calf. Elsa is terrified by what she sees. Fearing for her own life and for the lives of her family members, she remains silent.

Ten years pass, and Elsa is now trying to claim a role for herself in her community, where male elders expect young women to know their place. Meanwhile, the hostility toward the Sámi continues to escalate, and the police won’t do anything to protect them. When Elsa becomes the target of the man who killed her reindeer calf all those years ago, something inside of her breaks. The guilt, fear, and anger she’s been carrying since childhood come crashing over her, leading to a final catastrophic confrontation.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I selected Stolen as my February 2023 book of the month for my personal project, because it sounded like the ideal winter read and I knew I would learn something new. Unfortunately, I never got around to reading it until nearly a year later.

Told in three distinct sections, this novel is part coming-of-age story, part family saga, and part
ode to the Sámi people. Beautifully written in atmospheric tones, the pacing is slow, mirroring the traditional way of life, making it the perfect quiet winter read. I learned about Indigenous culture, but the author also opened my eyes to the discrimination inflicted on the Sámi people by both the general population, as well as, the police. It's another excellent portrait of the injustices and failings of systems put in place to protect the people. There is also a subtle commentary on the threat of climate change.

Elsa is a strong, independent female character, and I was along for her journey. I wanted her to succeed, and loved how was so sure of her hopes for her future. The internal debates she goes through in finding who she is, is an aspect I greatly appreciated getting.

Originally written in Swedish, the English translation is very well done. I never once felt like the emotional tone was lacking, and there is more explanations when needed to truly understand what the author is trying to say. If I didn't already know, I'd have never picked up that it was translated.

Stolen is based on the real lived experiences of the Sámi people and their reindeer herds, yet this is a fictionalized account. It was an uncomfortable read, containing gruesome detailed descriptions of animal cruelty and blatant injustice. But it was also an empowering, well-thought out story. I have recently learned it will be coming to Netflix in 2024, so I will be on the look out for that. There is also a follow up, published in 2023, which I am hoping will eventually be translated as well.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of Katherena Vermette
• readers who like translated works

*I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

I usually don’t put a lot of faith in comp titles, but in this case calling Stolen “Louise Erdrich meets Jo Nesbø” is very accurate. The book follows Elsa, a Sámi girl and who witnesses the murder of her reindeer when at the start of the book. As the plot continues we see the struggle of the Sámi people as they battle racism and hate crimes and climate change and other factors that are threatening their way of life. While Elsa is the main character, we do get chapters from other POVs including of the man who is torturing and killing reindeer so major trigger warning for animal cruelty here as there are some graphic depictions.

I think what this book does well is immerses the reader into the Sámi way of life and the struggles they face due to the other people’s hatred, an indifferent police and government, climate change, and more. The writing is also very immersive and well suited to such a bleak story. That being said, the pacing of this was off for me. That might be because I came in expecting more of a mystery plot, but we know from the beginning who the culprit is, so the book is more of a family saga than a mystery. But even after I readjusted my expectations, there were places where the story dragged for me.

Overall, I’m glad I read this book and I do recommend it if you’re in the mood for a fairly bleak family saga centering a Sámi community.

Brilliant writing and storytelling about the lived experience of the Indigenous Samí, told from the (mostly) POV of a Samí girl/woman over her younger life. All Scandinavians should read this.