Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name by Vendela Vida

This is a story about a woman trying to find herself through who her parents are. She discovers upon her father's death that he was not her true father. Her mother had long since disappeared from their lives. So she is left wondering who exactly she is and decides to travel to Lapland, the birthplace of her real father, to find him. Instead, she finds her mother's secrets. Her journey isn't easy and there are interesting parallels drawn between Clarissa (the protagonist) and her mother.

This was a great book...a definite thumbs up. In fact, someday I would like to close read it as I think that there is more to it than what I found on the first read through. Many of her characters speak simply, probably the author's way of having a language barrier in place since the book takes place in Lapland and the protagonist is from the United States so does not understand much of the language. However i like that the characters speak simply...you see more of who the character is when they aren't loaded down with flowery language. And you get some neat images and emotions.

I also like how the author describes the random people and places Clarissa encounters. There are some neat pictures of peoples lives that she paints and leaves you to compare them to the protagonist's plight as well as your own life.