Reviews

Stuldur by Ann-Helén Laestadius

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w8godot32's review against another edition

4.0

Embedded deep in the Scandinavian world is an indigenous people whose culture heavily depends on reindeer herding. In “Stolen,” author Ann-Helén Laestadius shows us life through the eyes of the Sámi experience. It is a harsh existence made harder by the bigotry permeating their everyday life. The book explores many other of their issues: complications brought about by climate change, the culture’s strong male chauvinism, suicide and its lasting impact, mental health struggles and the stigma associated with counseling.

The plotline initially focuses on Elsa, a nine-year-old girl who stumbles upon a man who has just brutally murdered her reindeer, Nastegallu. Throughout the course of the book we live the frustration of Elsa and her people as they are virtually ignored in their attempts to have the authorities stop the persistent attacks on their herds. We see Elsa challenging her fears as she grows from that frightened child to a woman who refuses to accept the injustices she sees.

The bulk of the book develops detailed portrayals of complex characters and slowly builds up to an inevitable confrontation. The final chapters then surge with some exciting page turning encounters. Overall, a very good novel you may want to read before its upcoming treatment by Netflix.

Please be warned: much of this is based on real-life events and there are some very explicit animal cruelty passages which are hard to take. This brutality is at the heart of the matter, however, and is in no way gratuitous. It would be difficult to gloss over these despicable acts.

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #Stolen #NetGalley

grace_theliteraryfiend's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

sydsnot71's review against another edition

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4.0

Every country has its minorities. Those who traditions are eroded by modernity and indifference. In Stolen Ann-Helén Laestadius focuses on the Sámi people of Sweden. It is based on real events and real indifference. Laestadius is partly of Sámi descent herself so this does feel like a book that comes from the heart.

When I review poetry I often talk about Anna Akhmatova's Requiem. The idea of the poet as witness and voice of the voiceless. And this is a book that feels like that. A story that is both truth and fiction. It is about racism and about structural indifference to a people that want to keep their traditional lifestyle alive. It is translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles.

It starts in 2008 when Elsa witnesses the killing her own reindeer calf, Nástegallu. She sees the killer, who is the man everyone knows is doing the poaching and mutilation but who the police seem spectacularly unbothered about. He threatens her and she keeps the secret. To the Swedish police these things are just theft, but to the Sámi it is murder. This gap is never really resolved.

The book is split into three sections. The 2008 section is the first. We see the initial crime and then learn more about Elsa's life within a kinship collective. Section two is set in 2018 and Section three in 2019. All along the thread of Elsa's secret runs throughout the book and the implicit threat of violence haunts it. Even if most of the violence is aimed at reindeer.

The final section leans towards Nordic Noir, but this book isn't that. It is a cri de coeur of a writer invested in her story, the story of the Sámi in a modern world and in how their concerns are treated. It is a political book in the best sense of the word.

The characters - even the 'bad' ones - are given depth. This isn't just a Sámi hagiography though. Traditional societies aren't perfect and some of that is reflected in this book. I suspect this will be a book that I will reflect on and come back to.