Tierra de nieve y cenizas

Arctic landscapes, the mystery of a disappearance, and the silenced memories of the prisoner-of-war camps of the Lapland War: at the ends of the earth, history is about to reveal its darkest secrets… In 1944, Finland broke its alliance with the Nazis by signing a treaty with Russia. After the armistice, the German army was expelled, retreating in a trail of destruction, burning as many buildings and laying as many landmines as possible. Set partly during this turbulent period, this novel begins when Väinö, a young Finnish soldier, is called to work as an interpreter at a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp near Lake Inari. Little by little, he discovers brutal racist practices, which he records in his diary. Amid the wilds of Lapland, surrounded by cruelty and death, he struggles to retain his humanity. A few years later, in 1947, Inkeri, a journalist and photographer from the south, arrives in the region. Officially, she's supposed to write a report on the reconstruction of Lapland after the war for a newspaper in the capital, but her true objective is different, more personal. That long journey from Helsinki to the far north of the country actually follows in her husband's footsteps: that's the last place Kaarlo was seen before he disappeared. A strong and independent woman, she soon befriends Piera, an elderly Sami man, and his granddaughter Bigga-Marja, who, over time, becomes a sort of assistant to the reporter. Väinö and Inkeri are the protagonists of two stories that intertwine under the midnight polar sun. In that landscape of austere and indescribable beauty, the memories of a people who have always inhabited the Arctic lands will bring to light shocking events, untold stories of oppression and survival.