This was excellent, I can't believe it was her debut novel. Folkloric and atmospheric. Historical fiction set in Swedish Lapland in 1717. Everyone in this remote community is hiding something. The perfect winter read. 🐺❄️
This was excellent, I can't believe it was her debut novel. Folkloric and atmospheric. Historical fiction set in Swedish Lapland in 1717. Everyone in this remote community is hiding something. The perfect winter read. 🐺❄️
#wondrouswednesday
Thanks to @Eggs @eeclayton
1. I did OK on my (loose) goals:
Participate in all #FoodandLit challenges: I read a book for every month ✔, but I sometimes cheated a bit on the home cooking front
Read books set in the Creuse department of France: ✔
I am happy with my progress w/ my Global Challenge (https://www.librarything.com/topic/338585): I added a few countries to the list, and reached the 5-book goal for some ✔
⬇
This was my #FoodAndLit pick for #Sweden
It was very atmospheric, and the characters and story were interesting. The mystery was pretty good as well.
A family move to Blackensen mountain from Finland. When someone is found dead in the marshes, the mother sets out to find who did it. But the other settlers blame the wolves, and then become afraid that it is something more sinister.
Loved it - 1 of November's highlights. Utterly charmed. I just wish the translator (I read it in French) had used footnotes to explain points of culture/habits/preconceptions/mythology, etc. Knowing that some of the nuances, connotations and inferences passed me by is frustrating...
Scenery from Pyhätunturi in Pyhä-Luosto Nationalpark in Finland from Jaro Larnos via Wikimedia
Have started Fishing for the Little Pike, set in Finnish Eastern Lapland. Elina needs to catch the last surviving pike in what's left of the lake at the end of summer, when it has turned into marshes. The descriptions of marshes, mosquitoes and horseflies are giving me nightmares. Contrary supernatural beings are starting to appear. This should be fun 😏
Picture of Hietasaari, Lake Saimaa by Timo Saarinen, via Wikimedia Commons
A new series for me with a setting in 1952 Finland where one of newly appointed female police officers Hella Mauzer is sent to a remote northern village where a disappearance leads to possible connections to the ominous soviet neighbour and possible espionage. Hella is a complex but intriguing character and I'm looking forward to reading more about life in the frozen North both in climate and the reaction to women police.
I haven't had to research so many things (Baltic geography, the various people that live there, WWII in Finland, Sami cultures, the difference between a Finn and a Finlander...) for a book in a long time and I'm enjoying it, although I do wish they had gone for footnotes! Thank all that is holy for Wikipedia!
#Lapland #Finland
As today is International Dog Day, and I had a parsing malfunction involving this dog breed in my current read, here's a picture of a Lapponian Herder dog... (The French said “bergers lapons“, and I first pictured human shepherds, not dogs, which didn't make sense in context.)
#Finland #Lapland
Picture of a Lapponian Herder from Wikipedia