This is a broad novel, the first in a planned trilogy. The title of the trilogy is “Ruijan Rannalla – Songs from the Ice Sea”. The Finnish part is included, because here is the story of Finnish immigrants to Finnmark in the middle of the 19th century. Who were the immigrants to Finnmark? The first-person narrator is the wonderfully beautiful Brita Caisa Seipajærvi. It is her passion and playful hands that the story revolves around. But Arvola’s project is bigger than depicting hearts on fire at odds with the law and public morality. The plight of man in the north is described through arduous journeys, neighbor quarrels, stillbirths, the rise of trading posts, Bible reading and ganning. The book gives a colorful picture of intense life in a landscape that is far from as desolate and barren as one might think. Arvola opens with a question. The year is 1859, and she asks: Who lived in Lapland during these times? This is the author’s voice. For each year – there are four changes of the year in this volume – Arvola breaks up Brita Caisa’s narrative with a fact box, almost, where she refers to censuses, explains which different people groups meet and provides background for the names of towns at the respective time. There is a lot of knowledge here, as it does in the rest of the text. There, the factual information can become too clear, inserted into a reply between two people who should both know the conditions. Thus the illusion is broken, and we are vaguely reminded that the narrative is not complementary enough in itself. Love fever It is, of course, passion that is the driving force in the story. Brita Caisa has two sons with two different men, but has never been married. Now she wants to start a new life in a new country, without the shame that clings to her. The goal is to get a husband, a secure provider for her and her sons. The only challenge is that Brita Caisa is so beautiful that hardly any man can take his eyes off her. This applies equally to married and unmarried people. Brita Caisa herself lets her emotions rule, and the husband’s hot longing for love – and equally steamy lovemaking – it’s been a long time since I’ve read about it in a Norwegian novel. Brita Caisa does not make the wisest choices. But the reader gains great sympathy for her. In addition to her beauty, she is equipped with healing powers, which she uses for the good of her fellow humans. Our heroine simply has a big and beating heart. Arvola writes about the adventure in life, so it is inevitable that it can feel bloated at times. Makes the reader curious about history The historical setting perhaps makes Arvola’s writing less unpredictable than before. Surprising leaps are precisely one of the things I have appreciated in her, both in her earlier novels and in the fresh children’s books about Buffy By. With her strong female figure, Arvola writes herself against Herbjørg Wassmo. The associations can also go to Roy Jacobsen’s critically acclaimed Barrøy series or Britt Karin Larsen’s fine story about the Finns who came to Norway further south. This first volume has given me new knowledge about Kven culture. I did not know that many of the first Finnish landowners in Neiden had to sell their farms and land at forced auctions, because they were deceived by Norwegian-speaking merchants. The fact that the Skolt Sami got their name from an eczema that left the scalp full of sores was also new to me. Arvola has made me look up encyclopedias and online sources – that’s a plus for the book! Problematic narration But I have some objections. The most important is Brita Caisa’s narration. It is not consistent, although it becomes clearer as the love story unfolds. Occasionally the author’s voice breaks through. Like at the beginning, when Brita talks about how “no strokes of the pen are people”, and tells about the facts she has learned from her dead sister. She is best in the concrete, physical: Secondly: She does not leave much to the reader’s own imagination. Most of it is posted in plain text. I appreciate the grandiose ambition to portray the history of an entire people through a small, emotionally driven person. I also enjoy it when Arvola occasionally lets his novel characters step in with a real swagger. More of that – and I’ll join in on the next verse of the songs from the Arctic Ocean. news reviews Photo: Cappelen Damm Title: The knife in the fire. Ruijan on the beach – Songs from the Arctic Ocean Author: Ingeborg Arvola Genre: Novel Publisher: Cappelen Damm Number of pages: 440 Date: August 2022
ttn-69
“Knife in the fire” by Ingeborg Arvola – Reviews and recommendations
