“Fearless and furious. Kathrine Nedrejord’s new novel is a Sami indictment against the Norwegian majority society’s oppression, invisibility, mockery, and racism… Marie Engmo’s narrative voice is sometimes subdued, but just as often intense and furious… With this novel, Kathrine Nedrejord once again demonstrates her insistent will to analyze the difficult issues surrounding victim and perpetrator. She convinces, both in language and temperament.”
6/6 stars , Inger Bentzrud, Dagbladet
“Powerful … Kathrine Nedrejord puts her finger on a wound and presses so hard that the reader becomes both horrified and wiser. Nedrejord is also a fearless author… The middle part stands out with a dazzling exposition of Sami identity”
Ingunn Økland, Aftenposten
“With The Sami Problem Nedrejord superbly places herself in an international tier of non-fiction-oriented novels … What elevates The Sami Problem as a novel is the author’s exploration of Sami identity and the pitfalls of trying to portray Sami identity comprehensively and credibly … Traditionally, stories from indigenous peoples often have vivid nature descriptions that closely tie the characters to natural areas and nature-mythical origin images. Nedrejord protests against the way Sami origin is usually conveyed … Nedrejord convincingly integrates a political level with personal experience when she weaves all the discrimination Marie has been subjected to into a coming-of-age story … Only an author like Nedrejord can make complex insights so accessible that most people can grasp them. The Sami Problem should be read by everyone.”
Astrid Fosvold, Vårt Land
“Nedrejord’s new novel forces the reader to examine themselves … The book examines from a Sami perspective how it feels to be seen as a problem in Norway, here and now – and over several hundred years … The text is strongest when it delves into areas that only a novel can explore in depth and breadth, where the societal and personal meet, in áhkkus and Marie’s lives as varying physical and psychological pain over being defined as Sami, or worse, as ‘mountain Finn’ or ‘Finn bastard.’”
Tom Egil Hverven, Klassekampen
