tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15258276.post8531694797580449267..comments2023-11-05T01:05:41.190-07:00Comments on International Noir Fiction: Question for Åsa Larsson fansGlenn Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04869155065647936216noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15258276.post-27454529606586418602008-09-13T11:17:00.000-07:002008-09-13T11:17:00.000-07:00Sorry I can't answer your question, but Vendela Vi...Sorry I can't answer your question, but Vendela Vida's Let the Northern Lights Erase my name (I think that was the title!) addressed these issues. The book had echoes of Miss Smilla's feeling for snow, in that it was about a child of the Samis (I think it was Samis) who discovered this fact in a shocking way and then travelled into the far north to discover her origins and her history.<BR/><BR/>Ethnic diversity of other kinds features a lot in recent Scandinavian crime fiction, eg Arnaldure Indridason's Archic Chill, Karin Fossum's Indian Bride and The Shadow in the River by Frode Grytten.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15258276.post-56373935053425056162008-09-13T09:11:00.000-07:002008-09-13T09:11:00.000-07:00I'm not totally clear on the subtleties , but both...I'm not totally clear on the subtleties , but both Finnish and Sami people have lived in that area for a long time. They are related languages, but distinct peoples. The only characters who I recall being definitively Sami are Esther's adoptive parents, and that seems to me to be the only part of the story where those ethnic differences are particularly important. Her adoptive mother's work - and Esther's mixed race heritage - adds an "exotic" label to their art; Ester's relationship to the natural world, and her sideways approach to social interactions, seems influenced by her adoptive mother and the Sami lifestyle she was raised in. But some of it is purely her own. <BR/><BR/>To confuse things further, there are Finnish Swedes and Swedish Finns. And several groups of Sami, who speak related but different languages.Barbarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10689314012050314027noreply@blogger.com