Theft
E-book, Czech
Theft
The new Sámi voice in Nordic literature
It's winter north of the Arctic Circle, and a few hours of pale light is all the sun offers before the landscape is once again shrouded in darkness. This is Sápmi, the land of the Sámi, the indigenous people of Scandinavia. Nine-year-old Elsa is the daughter of Sámi reindeer herders. One evening, when she sets off alone on her skis to the enclosure to feed the reindeer herd, she witnesses a man from the neighbouring village mercilessly executing her beloved calf, Nástegallu. The man threatens her to keep silent. For ten years, Elsa carries the secret like a dark weight on her heart. Meanwhile, the hatred and threats against the Sámi escalate, and the police ignore the brutal killing of the animals. Elsa therefore contacts a journalist, which turns the poachers against her. The fear, anger, and guilt that Elsa has suppressed since childhood are unleashed like an avalanche when she comes face to face with Robert Isaksson, the man who once killed her reindeer. How will Elsa react? Will she let her emotions take over and pull the trigger?
The story, told in three parts, is a testament to a young woman's fight for the rights of her people and their Sámi cultural heritage in a world of growing xenophobia, official indifference, and rising suicide rates. But it is also a melancholic love song to the beauties of the Nordic wilderness, which suffers from human interference and climate change. And last but not least, it is a thrilling, psychologically escalating story with a grand finale.
Writer and journalist Ann-Helén Laestadius comes from Kiruna in Sweden and has Sámi and Tornedalian roots. She has published several books for children and young adults, one of which received the prestigious August Prize for literature. In her books, she often turns to her home region, exploring themes of identity, language, belonging to different cultures, and the importance of family. Her novel Stolen was inspired by real events.
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