The End of Drum-Time

"Set in the cold, dark and often eerie world of Finland’s Sámi people, Hanna Pylväinen’s second novel – a finalist for the 2023 National Book Award – derived from her investigation of family roots and her discovery of fundamentalist Christian ancestors who once interacted with Indigenous groups in the far north. When Willa, a young 19th century woman whose strict minister father disapproves of her love for reindeer herder Ivvár, decides to take a chance and follows the herders to the sea, readers will see that Pylväinen cares more about the culture clash than about the crimes committed in the name of anyone’s gods. It’s an unusual, and unusually elegant, perspective on what happens when groups of humans cannot possibly agree on the best use of land, time and strength."