Embers: Reindeer Killings Among The Sami

 Embers is a first novel by Josephine Greenland.  I downloaded it from Net Galley.  It's a mystery that takes place amidst conflict between contemporary Swedes, and Sami reindeer herders who want to preserve their traditional way of life. 

                      

                           

 The young protagonists of Embers are Ellen and Simon.  It seemed to me that although Ellen was a good deal older than Simon, she seemed less definite in her opinions.  Simon, an autistic seven year old, was far more certain.  He was also very determined to find out who has been killing reindeer. 

 This investigative team were partly descended from Sami. The Sami are the indigenous inhabitants of Lapland.  Speaking of Lapland, my favorite book as a child was Lapland Outlaw by Arthur Catherall.  For me, this children's book was centrally significant, and I never forgot it.  I briefly discussed how I felt about Lapland Outlaw in this review. 

I often track down references to books in whatever I read.  The character Simon read a number of mysteries in a series by Martin Widmark.  I discovered that Widmark is a major author of children's fiction in Sweden.  

Author Josephine Greenland had mentioned "Levinians", but I have to say that this search term didn't lead to any useful results until I identified Levinians as a Lutheran sect.  Then I hit paydirt with Laestadian Lutheranism, and its founder 19th century Swedish Sami Lutheran clergyman Lars Levi Laestadius on Wikipedia. 

At one point in the narrative of Embers, Ellen and Simon talk about the nature of dreams.  Simon said that dreams aren't supernatural.  I actually do believe that dreams are supernatural, full of symbols and rich with meaning.  Sometimes a novel like Embers reminds me of the ideas that I consider foundational.   I feel well rewarded by such tales.

Attempts to end Sami reindeer herding have increased.  Embers reveals that the pressure to stop the Sami traditional way of life is due to resource extraction industries.   Any other land use is incompatible with mining.  Another important consideration is that unless the mining companies agree to restore the land after they've finished mining it, the land will be useless for any other purpose for quite some time.  This goes beyond the Sami losing their traditional lifestyle.  Swedes should realize that they are allowing the environment of Lapland to be wrecked by the extractive industries, and they will not be able to use that land either.

Another issue that is brought up is the exploitation of Thai agricultural workers in Sweden.  So the Sami aren't the only ones being mistreated in Sweden.  There probably aren't any laws protecting non-Swedes from exploitation. 

An individual who is identified as  responsible for crimes is portrayed sympathetically in this novel. I think that mysteries in which those who have committed crimes are portrayed in a complex manner are better written than the ones in which the perpetrators are portrayed as stereotypical villains.  I thought that Embers is a superior first novel.