Description
Book SynopsisAn ancestry test suggesting she shared some DNA with the Sámi people, the indigenous inhabitants of the Arctic tundra, tapped into Laura Galloway's wanderlust; an affair with a Sámi reindeer herder ultimately led her to leave New York for the tiny town of Kautokeino, Norway. When her new boyfriend left her unexpectedly after six months, it would have been easy, and perhaps prudent, to return home. But she stayed for six years.
Dálvi is the story of Laura's time in a reindeer-herding village in the Arctic, forging a solitary existence as she struggled to learn the language and make her way in a remote community for which there were no guidebooks or manuals for how to fit in. Her time in the North opened her to a new world. And it brought something else as well: reconciliation and peace with the traumatic events that had previously defined her - the sudden death of her mother when she was three, a difficult childhood and her lifelong search for connection and a sense of home.
Both a heart-rending memoir and a love letter to the singular landscape of the region, Dálvi explores with great warmth and humility what it means to truly belong.
Trade ReviewMeeting Laura Galloway in the pages of her memoir has been like dropping into the incredible life of someone who inspires you to the moon and back. How far would you go to save your own life? For Laura the answer is to the ends of the earth. This
astonishing, tender, jaw-dropping story is a page turner. Take this unforgettable journey with Laura and return with gems for your own life. -- Sheri Salata, author of THE BEAUTIFUL NO: AND OTHER TALES OF TRIAL, TRANSCENDENCE AND TRANSFORMATION
Laura Galloway's account of her escape to a new life in the Arctic tundra is
an enchanting tale of courage, hope and breath-taking grit. I loved it. -- Christina Patterson, author of THE ART OF NOT FALLING APART
An affecting memoir and a paean to the singular climate and landscape of the Arctic,
Dálvi (winter in northern Sámi) is
a profound exploration of connections lost and found. * Traveller *
[A] compulsive account -- Hephzibah Anderson * Observer *
[A]
fascinating memoir. * The New European *
Remarkable...intriguing...readers can't help but be impressed by her drive * Los Angeles Review of Books *
[T]his remarkable memoir is
as stirring as it is gripping... a
joyous, life-affirming read. * LoveReading *
Table of Contents1: Unravelled 2: Ailu 3: Guovdageaidnu 4: Detritus 5: Among the Reindeer 6: Away 7: Bargu (work) 8: Westward 9: Alone 10: Broken 11: Angels Appear 12: Beivvas (sun) 13: Boo 14: The Others 15: Grace 16: I Am Not A Sami 17: London 18: Cahppe 19: Ellos (life) 20: America 21: Nilla 22: Wild 23: Return
