{"product_id":"north-coast-of-the-north","title":"North Coast of the North","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA traveler and translator explores the multiethnic cultures, histories, and landscapes of Norways high north\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA companionable travel memoir about Arctic Norway, \u003ci\u003eNorth Coast of the North \u003c\/i\u003edetails Barbara Sjoholms trip in the summer of 2024 to the northernmost region of the Scandinavian peninsula, a borderland that is home to a richly multicultural society, an expanding tourist industry, and landscapes bearing the marks of colonization, environmental damage, and climate change. A writer with decades of experience in the Nordic countries, Sjoholm flew from her home in the Pacific Northwest to Norways high north to research a collection of Smi folktales and witness firsthand the settings from which the stories emerged.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSjoholms journey takes her from Kirkenes, the final port on the Hurtigruten coastal route and an outpost on the Russian border, to the fertile farmlands of the Pasvik River Valley and to Indigenous archaeological sites and historic trading posts around the Varangerfjord. She voyages west along the Barents Sea coastline and south to Troms, past islands and inlets of surpassing beauty (as well as liquid gas plants and wind farms), and writes about the ongoing resource exploitation and local resistance to Norwegian and global corporate interests. \u003ci\u003eNorth Coast of the North\u003c\/i\u003e intertwines Sjoholms observations on the tragedies of World War II and the literature and folklore of the Smi with her own warm memories of Norway, a country that never ceases to intrigue her.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn absorbing and expansive blend of travel writing, memoir, and reflections on translation, history, and literature, \u003ci\u003eNorth Coast of the North\u003c\/i\u003e is a vivid look at an often exoticized, frequently overlooked, yet increasingly important environmental and geopolitical region of Northern Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRetail e-book files for this title are screen-reader friendly with images accompanied by short alt text and\/or extended descriptions.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57680131817845,"sku":"9781517922863","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781517922863.jpg?v=1792423228","url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/north-coast-of-the-north","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}