A haunting tale of the realities the Sámi, like other Indigenous groups around the world, face in the presence of modernity, minority status and xenophobia. 

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

One of the best books I have read. I learned so much about the struggles of being Sami that I did not know before and it was just a really moving book.

*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.

This book was an amazing slow burn. I definitely enjoyed the second half more than the first. And by the end, I felt deeply moved for the characters. It felt so tender to learn about the Sámi so intimately. I was deeply impacted by the way mental health was explored in this book and the long lasting effects of a single moment from being a little girl to a grown young adult. Also loved how sexism, racism, animal cruelty, climate change, and trauma were all interlaced throughout the story to bring a full, dynamic image of the Sámi people in the modern world. 

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. 

Laestadius’ prose is remarkably moving and full of luscious description that immediately draws you into Elsa’s snow-covered world. From the start, the immersive story she spins grapples with themes of identity, trauma and injustice; the unique responses of each character reveal layers of Laestadius’ social commentary.

Stolen is written in simple prose that is littered with beautiful descriptions of nature and human emotion. As the majority of the book is filtered through the lens of a young protagonist, I understood the artistic decision to keep the writing fairly simple, however, I did find myself frequently longing for more of Laestadius’ stunning descriptive writing.

The beauty of Stolen lies in its thematic exploration of intergenerational trauma, systemic oppression and mental health. It took me a long time to wade through this novel because of how impactful it was; I frequently found myself needing to take breaks to process what I had just read. 

In the Myth of Sisyphus, Camus wrote that the only serious philosophical question is whether or not to commit suicide; for several of Laestadius’ characters, this is not merely a philosophical quandary, but an unavoidable reality. Stolen clearly illuminates the struggle of the Sámi people, and the harsh reality that some people (and peoples) roll heavier stones.

In one of the most moving portrayals of depression and oppression—and, of course, the inextricable relationship between the two—I’ve read, Laestadius somehow manages to make the looming threat of mental health issues feel tangible. At times, mental health—depression, anxiety, and the question of whether life is worth living—takes the reins from the poaching villain Robert, personifying the general/abstract antagonist of oppression in his stead.

It’s not hard to see why Stolen is a best-seller: it tells a story that needs to be told, and it does so remarkably well. Get ready to have your heart broken, but in all the best ways.