The Reindeer of Chinese Gardens
In Barbara Sjoholm’s stirring historical novel The Reindeer of Chinese Gardens, a woman is determined to become a writer.
At the turn of the twentieth century, Norwegian Dagny yearns for “foreign places and adventure.” She marries a sea captain and accompanies him moving cargo around the world. When her husband takes a more routine job ferrying American timber, Dagny remains in their new Port Townsend, Washington, home; the town is filled with Yukon-bound prospectors. Feeling restless and confined, she keeps a journal to improve her English fluency and reflect upon her travels and life.
Though her initial observations are as “choppy as waves,” Dagny’s journals develop deeper eloquence over decades of change. With a keen eye for detail, human nature, and the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, she relates her seafaring memories alongside frenzied observations of the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush. Fascinated by other cultures, she befriends her Chinese servant to learn more about exploited Asian immigrants. And when a group of Sámi adults and children arrive in Washington from Lapland, Dagny is enchanted by their customs and language. The Sámi have been commissioned to travel with their native reindeer to Alaska and haul supplies to Yukon miners, but the arduous travels take a heavy toll on both the Laplanders and the reindeer herd.
Turning her experiences into writing material, Dagny pursues an eventual career in journalism. The book conveys the newspaper style of the era with skill, as Dagny’s articles feature “copper-skinned Indians,” menacing “white devils,” and a general tone of compelling drama. She also uses the abbreviated pen name of D.B. Bergland to elude chauvinistic editors.
Centered by its forthright and resilient heroine, the historical novel The Reindeer of Chinese Gardens balances the scope of an epic with a personal, nuanced perspective.
Reviewed by
Meg Nola
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