A deeply moving, revelatory novel-in-verse about the struggle and persistence of two Indigenous Sámi families across a century of forced migration and colonial trauma __________ 'Crystalline... reads like poetry and myth at once. There are intricate layers of beauty and meaning here in sparse clusters across a vast new landscape as I've never read before. The music of this book is old, and it is new, and it is old' Tommy Orange, author of 'There, There' 'Incredibly beautiful and magnificent... With Ædnan, Swedish literature has been enriched' Dagens Nyheter 'Not only a linguistic adventure, innovative and rooted in both traditions and renewal, but also a statement that we are bigger and freer than the borders that shut us out from each other... Remarkable and magnificent' Norrtelje Tidning __________ In Northern Sámi, the word?Ædnan?means the land, the ground and the earth. In this majestic verse novel, Linnea Axelsson chronicles the fates of two Indigenous Sámi families over a hundred years as they are expelled from their ancestral home, giving powerful voice to a history under threat of erasure. In the 1910s, Ristin and Ber-Joná try to care for their infant twins while migrating their reindeer herd to their summer pasture. As a border is imposed between northernmost Sweden and Norway, the family faces tragedy when it is forced to migrate south. In the 1970s, Lise - part of a new generation of Sámi grappling with questions of identity and inheritance - reflects on her traumatic childhood, when she was placed in a 'nomad school' to be stripped of her ancestors' language. Moving into the 2010s, Lise's daughter Sandra seeks to reclaim her heritage, becoming an activist fighting for reparations in a highly publicized land rights trial. With grand scope and stunning, crystalline language,?Ædnan?weaves together a chorus of voices from across a century into a profound and moving epic of Sámi life.

Linnea Axelsson is a Sámi-Swedish writer, born in the province of North Bothnia in Sweden. In 2009, she earned a Ph.D in art history from Umeå University. In 2018, she was awarded the August Prize for Ædnan. She lives in Stockholm, Sweden.

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In Northern Sami, the word dnan means the land, the ground, the earth. In this majestic verse novel, Linnea Axelsson chronicles the fates of two Indigenous Sami families, telling of their struggle and persistence over a century of colonial displacement, loss and resistance. It begins with Ristin and Ber-Jona, who are trying to care for their troubled young sons while migrating their reindeer herd in northernmost Scandinavia during the 1910s. The coming of the Swedes brings new borders that lay waste to Sami customs and migration paths - and mean devastating separation for this family. In the 1970s, Lise grapples with how she was forced to adapt to Swedish society, haunted by her time in a 'nomad school' where she was deprived of her ancestors' language and history. Lise's daughter, Sandra, seeks to reclaim that heritage, becoming an activist struggling for reparations from the Swedish state. As one generation succeeds another, their voices interweave and form a spellbinding hymn to lands and traditions lost and reclaimed. Written in sparse, glittering verse that flows like a current,? dnan is a profound and moving epic of Sami life.