I always find that there is a feeling of claustrophobia with books that are set in locations such as The Last Snow. In this book that area is a remote area of Lapland called Ödesmark. It is where Liv has lived all her life with her father Vidar and her son Simon. They do seem to have a strange relationship, not that friendly to each other, but you do see a caring side at times. When Simon massages his grandfathers hands and even though it could also be called controlling, the way Vidar always took Liv to work. And it becomes evident that this meant a lot to him later in the book.

Liam is determined to stay clean and out of trouble, he wants to provide a safe and stable environment for his daughter. But his brother Gabriel has other ideas and is prepared and capable of doing anything to get his own way.

The novel is captivating, the flashbacks to Liv’s childhood and her teenage years provide a lot of insight into why her family life is the way it was. The attitude of the locals to all of the family, the suspicion and the bitterness and gossip all provide a lot of tension. The only character who showed Liv and Liam any warmth was their boss who seemed to go with his instinct rather than listen to rumour. Most of the antagonism was connected to money that Vidar was rumoured to have.

It’s one of those novels where you do struggle to like the characters. Often unfriendly and angry but Liv did seem to be more approachable in the second half of the novel. And I did have a lot of sympathy for Liam and wanted him to achieve his dream.

I’m looking forward to reading more by this author.