The End of Drum-Time

From Whiting Award-winner Hanna Pylväinen, The End of Drum-Time is a richly atmospheric saga that charts the repercussions of a scandalous nineteenth century love affair between a young Sámi reindeer herder in the Arctic Circle and the daughter of the renegade Lutheran minister whose teachings are upending the Sámi way of life.

It's 1851 at the edge of the Arctic Circle, and things are changing quickly. The church outpost that Lars Levi, a fervent Lutheran minister, mans, is a rugged, sparsely populated one. But as the zeal of his teachings mounts, so does the attendance at the weekly services he holds. The Sámi reindeer herders he's been sent to minister to are skeptical of the Christian values-and strict rules-he preaches, but when Biettar, one of the Sami's most respected herders, has a dramatic awakening on the shortest day of the year, more and more of the Sámi people become ready to let their long-held traditions and beliefs give way to new ones. Biettar's new commitment to Lars and his teachings means that Biettar's son Ivvár is left to tend the family's reindeer herd alone, an increasingly impossible task.

Meanwhile, Lars Levi's daughter Willa has always been the picture of obedience, until a chance encounter with Ivvár leads to an infatuation that gradually becomes something more. When a catastrophic illness threatens the life of her young brother, everything she's ever believed is called into question, making her feel reckless-and free-in a way she's never been before.

Gorgeously written and stunning in scope, The End of Drum-Time is both a powerful immersion into a forgotten culture and a celebration of a beautiful, ancient way of life. It masterfully weaves together the complex geopolitics and rich tradition of nineteenth century Scandinavia and brings to life a people caught between an old way of life and the new, and asks how what we believe shapes the course of our lives.