Dálvi: Six Years in the arctic tundra
I discovered Dálvi back in 2022, about a year after permanently moving to Finland. A time when I was still navigating my own integration into a new culture, deeply immersed in Finnish language studies, and uncovering new nuances and meanings of home and belonging every day. Laura Galloway's memoir resonated with me from the very first page.
In a mix of memoir and travelogue, Dálvi - “winter” in Sámi - is a compelling exploration of Arctic life, Sámi culture, and the themes of identity and belonging. The book follows the real-life experiences of New York-based journalist Laura Galloway who, after discovering her Sámi roots through a DNA test, decides to relocate to Kautokeino, a remote village in Norwegian Lapland. Over six transformative years in the far North, Laura immerses herself in the local community and navigates her evolving relationship with the Sámi culture.
Laura’s journey into Sámi culture is also a linguistic one: the book is rich in Sámi words and expressions, and the protagonist frequently reflects on her encounters with the language - her struggles in language classes, and the way words slowly open a window into local ways of thinking and being. Beyond minus-fifteen-degree temperatures, lingonberries, and reindeer stew, Dálvi also delves into sensitive themes such as mental breakdown, anxiety, and the pervasive sense of exhaustion that seems to permeate contemporary social media culture.
“I am now a million miles away from anyone who understands ‘life hacks’ and people who drink grass-fed yak-butter coffee or do six-day silent meditation retreats in exotic locales and then write extensive posts about their personal growth on LinkedIn and Instagram with hashtags like #blessed.”
Ultimately, Laura’s journey is one of profound self-reflection. It’s a story about finding yourself in the most unexpected places and understanding that home is not merely a physical location, but resides within us and in the connections we form with others:
“I don’t know what the future holds, but knowing I’ve found the meaning of home, anything is possible.”
The conclusion, one of the most hopeful endings I have ever read, marks the dawn of a new chapter, and a new journey ahead:
"I have a course to plot across Europe. The trip will take me 3,292 kilometres across seven countries, with two cats and two dogs. I need to be prepared."
Returning to this book years later, I find myself once again enchanted by Dálvi. Every time I come back to these pages I find myself underlining more and more passages and reflecting on my own journey into the North.
As I wrap up this review, I know that this winter too, I’ll curl up with a blanket and hot tea from my apartment in Helsinki, the place I now call home, and step back into Dálvi, to be inspired, again, by this fascinating tale.
