This book is really important and the history is so interesting, but I just couldn’t get into it. Something in the story telling didn’t work for my brain and I found myself bored and wishing I was done reading it. For sure there were some intense and suspenseful parts of this book, but there was also a lot of mundanity that didn’t draw me in. 

CW: suicide and so much animal death 

I loved this book. It was the first time I really learned about Sámi people, communities, and way of life. The storytelling was tense but beautiful. I left this book with a new knowledge about the Sámi and some of the issues their communities experience, as well as a passion to inform others and join the fight for Sámi rights.

As important as it is gripping, this book sums up what it means to advocate for yourself, your culture, your mental health, and your own land without wallowing into sentimentality. 

Tragic and sad, paints vivid picture of what happens when hate gets in the way and is passed down through generations. 

 Stolen is set north of the Arctic Circle in a Sámi community. The story unfolds in two sections. In the first Elsa is nine years old and witnesses the illegal killing of one of her reindeer, an event that traumatises her. The second section is ten years later, when Elsa is trying to find her own way in the Sámi community but coming up against sexism and ingrained traditions. Reindeer poaching continues to be a major problem and then fate provides Elsa with the opportunity to confront the man who killed her reindeer a decade earlier.

This book provided me an opportunity to learn about the Sámi, their way of life and the obstacles, difficulties, and prejudices they face, via an engaging and absorbing story. I loved the specificity of the story and how immersive it was, never pandering to readers like me who have little to no prior knowledge of Sámi. Having said that, one of the things that struck me was the universality of some of Elsa’s experiences, particularly her interactions with the police. Their total lack of interest in dealing with the illegal killing of reindeer, effectively a hate crime against Sámi, was infuriating and remarkably similar to what I know of police behaviour with other indigenous and marginalised communities worldwide.

Elsa was a fabulous character, both as a young girl and then as a feisty young woman. Robert, while not a likeable character, was so well-drawn. Sadly I’ve met many men just like him. The sense of place was strong and I think the author did a great job portraying how vulnerable Elsa, her family, and the rest of her Sámi community felt, with their way of life being threatened both directly and indirectly.