Drop-in book club for adults

Today's book: The Memory of the Sea by Petra Rautiainen

Northern Norway in the 1980s: After many years in the USA, Aapa, who belongs to the ethnic minority of the Kvens, returns to her childhood village in Finnmark. She has been hired by the oil industry to produce a promotional film about Arctic oil drilling—something meant to convince the reluctant villagers to support expanded drilling in the sea.

Reuniting with the Arctic Ocean, the animals, and the people of the region brings Aapa’s and the village’s traumatic past to the surface. Does Aapa truly remember what happened during the tragic whale accident that took her mother’s life, leaving her with a deep resentment toward the sea she once loved?

The Memory of the Sea is a unique story about Finnmark in the 1980s, the region’s Kven and Sámi minorities, the oil industry’s drilling that disrupts the Arctic ecosystem, and the first budding efforts to protect nature.

Petra Rautiainen was born in 1988 in eastern Finland. She holds a bachelor's degree in history and cultural studies and is currently working on a doctoral dissertation on the representation of the Sámi in Finnish media. Her debut novel, Land of Snow and Ashes, was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize, won the Savonia Prize in 2020, and was also nominated for the Lapland Literature Prize, the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize, and Book of the Year by Finnish booksellers.

All who have read the book and wish to share their reading experience are welcome.
No pre-registration required.