Stolen
* NOW A NETFLIX FILM * AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * A spellbinding Swedish novel that follows a young indigenous woman as she struggles to defend her family's reindeer herd and culture amidst xenophobia, climate change, and a devious hunter whose targeted kills are considered mere theft in the eyes of the law. On a winter day north of the Arctic Circle, nine-year-old Elsa--daughter of Sámi reindeer herders--sees a man brutally kill her beloved reindeer calf and threaten her into silence. When her father takes her to report the crime, local police tell them that there is nothing they can do about these "stolen" animals. Killings like these are classified as theft in the reports that continue to pile up, uninvestigated. But reindeer are not just the Sámi's livelihood, they also hold spiritual significance; attacking a reindeer is an attack on the culture itself. Ten years later, hatred and threats against the Sámi keep escalating, and more reindeer are tortured and killed in Elsa's community. Finally, she's had enough and decides to push back on the apathetic police force. The hunter comes after her this time, leading to a catastrophic final confrontation. Based on real events, Ann-Helén Laestadius's award-winning novel Stolen is part coming-of-age story, part love song to a disappearing natural world, and part electrifying countdown to a dramatic resolution--a searing depiction of a forgotten part of Sweden.
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Community Reviews
The novel, Stolen, by Ann-Helen Laestadius is set in a Sami community in Sweden. Stolen is translated from the Swedish language to the English language by Rachel Willson-Broyles. A non-Sami poacher named Robert Isaksson is killing the reindeer of the Sami community and selling the meat. Isaksson's killing of the reindeer of the Sami community splits the small, rural community. Many members of the non-Sami community of the village take a different view of the reindeer killings than the Sami community of the reindeer killings. A nine-year ago Sami girl named Elisa sees Isaksson killing her favorite reindeer named Nastegulla. The local police are not interested in solving the case and arresting Isaksson for poaching. This event sets off the plot of the novel. The book also follows Elisa, ten years later, when she is a late-age teenager. Elisa wants to become a respected leader in her family's cooperative business of reindeer herders, a position usually occupied by males in the Sami Community according to the novel. Elisa also wants to bring Isaksson to justice. The novel, Stolen, by Ann-Helen Laestadius, translated by Rachael Willson-Broyles, provides a view of the Sami community in the early 21st Century, which is struggling with Climate Change and discrimination from the non-Sami community.
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