The End of Drum-Time

A story of forbidden love and fugitive faith in the nineteenth century Arctic Circle

In 1851, at a remote village in the Scandinavian tundra, a Lutheran minister known as Mad Lasse tries in vain to convert the native Sámi reindeer herders to his faith. But when one of the most respected herders has a dramatic awakening and dedicates his life to the church, his impetuous son, Ivvár, is left to guard their diminishing herd alone. By chance, he meets Mad Lasse’s daughter Willa, and their blossoming infatuation grows into something that ultimately crosses borders―of cultures, of beliefs, and of political divides―as Willa follows the herders on their arduous annual migration north to the sea.

Gorgeously written and sweeping in scope, Hanna Pylväinen’s The End of Drum-Time immerses readers in a world lit by the northern lights, steeped in age-old rituals, and guided by passions that transcend place and time.

About the Author

Hanna Pylväinen is the author of the novel We Sinners, which received a Whiting Award and a Balcones Fiction Prize. To research The End of Drum-Time, her second novel, she spent six months with Sámi reindeer herders in Finland. She lives in Philadelphia.

Reviews

"Transports readers deep into an unfamiliar world, yet with familiar conflicts and desires. I was absorbed and changed. Absolutely beautiful" —Tracy Chevalier, bestselling author of Girl with a Pearl Earring

"The End of Drum-Time is a novel like no other. It is as much a historical epic as it is an intimate love story―as much a vast cultural record as it is a detailed study of a person's soul. It is infinitely rich and rewarding. In these pages, Hanna Pylväinen tells a story of love, faith, reindeer herding, and human failing. She has written a masterpiece" —Julia Phillips, author of the National Book Award finalist Disappearing Earth

"One of the most unique voices in American literature, Hanna Pylväinen occupies a space shared by the Scandinavian writers Kerstin Ekman, Tove Jansson, and, beyond that, 19th century masters. The End of Drum-Time brings the readers to a recent past, a distant land, and proves that the complexity of human nature is as relevant and timeless as the ancient landscape. A triumph from the first page to the last!" —Yiyun Li

"The End of Drum-Time explores some of the most complex themes in literature in some of the most gorgeous prose imaginable. Hanna Pylväinen’s novel of cultural collision in the far north is an extraordinary feat of research and imagination by an author who reminds you with every page what fiction can accomplish" —Anthony Marra, New York Times bestselling author of Mercury Pictures Present

"A sweeping Sámi epic ... atmospheric tale of love and colonial conflict ... engrossing ... The End of Drum-Time calls to mind the great novels of Thomas Hardy – for Pylväinen understands, as Hardy did, the cost that transformation exacts, and her writing echoes his empathy for all who came under his gaze" —Erica Wagner, Guardian

Dimensions: 13.3 x 3.2 x 21.3 cm