A novel about nature conservation and wild reindeers
Messages from the mountains is a poetic and political page-turner about wild reindeers and respect for nature. It’s also a story of love and revenge. The novel has excited Norwegian readers and critics. The plot is set in the Dovrefjell mountain area in Norway. Messages from the mountains is written in Norwegian nynorsk by Guri Sørumgård Botheim.
Ragna Svae gets a job at the The Norwegian Wild Reindeer Centre at Dovrefjell. The wild reindeers are vulnerable and got internationally red listed in 2016. Ragna is fighting a battle to better their conditions and to reduce hiking.
The wild reindeers are very shy and are easily scared away by people. Large and contiguous areas are required to feed a herd of wild reindeers. The reindeer habitats get fragmented and disappear because of tourism and other human activity and infrastructure, such as roads, buildings and power industry.
Ragna becomes deeply involved in her work, and she is no stranger to using drastic measures in the fight against her enemies.
Environmental activism
In her private life Ragna struggles with the loss of her former boyfriend, Gaute, who died in the mountains, apparently in an accident. Gaute was an activist who secretly worked to prevent damage and loss of nature.
Is it possible to transform grief, both over loss of nature and loss of love, into action?
Inspired by ecosystem restoration
While writing the novel Botheim was inspired by an extensive ecosystem restoration project in the Dovrefjell mountain area. After being used as an military shooting field for 80 years, a 165 km2 area in Dovrefjell has been restored.
UN has declared 2021–2030 to be the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
Messages from the mountains is an exciting read
The critic Mímir Kristjánsson, also a high-profile member of the Norwegian Storting, says:
Botheim never succumbs to the temptation to lay Hjerkinn out as a desolate and bloodthirsty settlement, so well-known from modern Nordic Noir. Still she manages to make «Høgfjellsmeldinga» so exciting that it is hard to put away.
Author: Guri Sørumgård Botheim
Publisher: Forlaget Oktober, Oslo, Norway | In English (oktober.no)
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