Elita

A Novel

By: Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum

Narrated by: Rachel Perry

An American literary take on the Nordic noir genre

Unfolding during the moody Pacific Northwest winter of 1951, we follow Bernadette Baston, scholar of child development and language acquisition, as she travels to a penitentiary on the remote island Elita in the Puget Sound to consult on a curious case: two guards have discovered an animal-like adolescent girl living alone in the cold woods beyond the prison's walls.

There are few answers, but many people who know more than they are saying. According to official reports, the girl, dubbed Atalanta, does not speak. Is her silence protecting someone? The prison warden, court-appointed guardian, and police detective embroil Bernadette in resolving a secret that the tight-knit island community has long held, and her investment in the girl's case soon becomes more personal than professional.

As a mother, wife, and woman bound by mid-twentieth-century expectations, Bernadette strategizes to retain the fragile control she has over her own freedom, identity, and future, which becomes inextricably tied to solving Atalanta's case.

©2025 Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum (P)2025 Highbridge Audio

Powerful Feminine Historical Insights

I loved the unfolding of this story, poetic, pulsing with feelings, and self discovery. Although it was painful to listen to how powerless women and children are in the man’s world, I think it so important for women to be reminded how much we have today and not to let our rights slip away but rather to keep fighting for our rights. Like the right to abortion. I wanted the story to be more about the wild girl and child development but it wasn’t and still I loved the story.

Odd story and reading

Just didn’t like any of the characters and really did not care for the reader who seemed to whisper the entire book like it was more mysterious than it was. Storyline also odd and not a very satisfying conclusion.