Book Review - The End of Drum-Time by Hanna Pylväinen

 

 

The End of Drum-Time by Hanna Pylväinen is about a young couple who falls in love. In 1851, Mad Lasse was a Lutheran minister in a remote town located on the Scandinavian tundra. Mad Lasse is trying to convert the native Sami reindeer herders to his faith. He is having a hard time with his mission as most of the natives are staying true to their pagan beliefs.

Things change when Bietter, a shaman from the native religion and a well respected herder, has a dramatic awakening and converts to a Lutheran. He leaves his son, Ivvar, to watch over their dwindling herd while Bietter spends his time with Mad Lasse to learn more about the religion. Ivvar is annoyed that his father abandoned his herding and religion so easily. Ivvar heads to the city to purchase liquor when he crosses paths with Mad Lasse’s daughter, Willa. He finds that he enjoys her company and is excited to see her in the town. Will Ivvar’s infatuation with the preacher’s daughter allow him to be more accepting of his father’s conversion?

This book was a disappointing and dull read. I picked the book because I liked the cover but that was the only thing I liked about the book. The summary of the book was a bit deceptive because the story was told from alternating points of views and there were several main characters in the story. The book was focused on at least 6 characters and described how they all related to each other.

I found the book to be confusing as the narrator would switch between the many different characters in the middle of a paragraph without making it clear that a new person is narrating. The author had a lot of long run-on sentences that were confusing and unclear what they were trying to communicate. I felt that the novel was boring and nothing happened for pages at a time. I read more than one fourth of the novel but the story didn’t progress at all. The only benefit I got from reading this book is that it cured my insomnia.