If the Owl Calls - by Sharon White (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Set in 1979 Norway, If the Owl Calls is a mesmerizing literary mystery that masterfully blends historical intrigue, cultural identity, and environmental resistance. As the Sami community fights to protect ancestral lands from the controversial Alta Dam, Oslo detective Hans Sorensen is sent to the far north to investigate a series of sabotage attacks. But when a body is discovered in a remote ravine, what seemed like a political act of defiance spirals into something far more complex--a case that will force Hans to confront his own past, his buried heritage, and the meaning of justice. Hans, who is Sami, has spent his life on the fringes of his culture. Still mourning the recent death of his wife, he is reluctant to return to the land of his childhood. But as he follows the trail of two suspected saboteurs he is pulled into a web of secrets, betrayals, and shifting alliances. Richly atmospheric and deeply evocative, If The Owl Calls is a stunning exploration of identity, loss, and the fight to reclaim one's past.

Review Quotes

"Sharon White's writing is gorgeous. The sentences are lyrical and assured at the same time... Almost every page gives the reader a beautiful image to savor, whether it's a persimmon or an orchid or something grander, like a park or garden or mountain." -- Ann Hood, New York Times best-selling author of The Stolen Child "With mad singing in strange lands and familiar places, these tiny stories speak a language of dark lyricism. Unleashing the unconscious, White dares to venture through a tapestry of nightmare memories to illuminate strange moments of reality bordered by pure beauty. Boiling Lake flies fast and free." --Aimee Parkison, author of The Petals of Your Eyes "Her lyrical prose moves effortlessly through the centuries, through the stories and histories of people and flowers, of rivers and plants. Stunning work. --Lisa Couturier, author of The Hopes of Snakes & Other Tales from the Urban Landscape "As with all excellent writing about landscape, Vanished Gardens transforms the world before our eyes so that the reader, held in its thrall, begins to see to see." --Michael Martone, winner of the Indiana Author's Award

About the Author

Sharon White is an award-winning author whose work spans nonfiction, poetry, and fiction. Her books include: Vanished Gardens, the AWP Award in Creative Nonfiction winner; Boiling Lake, winner of the Italo Calvino Prize in Fabulist Fiction; and Minato Sketches, a Rosemary Daniell Prize winner. An Associate Professor Emerita at Temple University, she has dedicated her career to writing and teaching, with her work appearing in numerous literary journals and anthologies. White lives in Philadelphia.