Literary Scout

Category: Icelandic Fiction

Huldukonan (The Hidden Woman)

Fríða Ísberg
1/5 stars

Fríða Ísberg’s Huldukonan is a multi-generational novel that traces how grief, secrecy, and desire become transformed into folklore, and how that folklore, once established, begins to shape the emotional lives of those who inherit it. Set primarily in the remote fjord of Dýrleifarvík, the novel moves between the early twentieth century and the year 1984, […]

Syndafall by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir

Yrsa Sigurðardóttir’s novel Syndafall is a dark psychological thriller that follows several seemingly separate lives which gradually, and tragically, intersect. The novel explores guilt, repression, moral responsibility and the devastating consequences of mistakes that are never confronted. Although the narrative shifts between characters, the story unfolds as a single chain of cause and effect, in […]

Kletturinn (Rockface) by Sverrir Norland (2023)

“Kletturinn” is a compelling novel that weaves together past and present, secrets and friendships, and the complexities of human relationships. It revolves around Einar, a man who is forced to confront a dark event from his past that has haunted him for two decades. The novel is divided into several parts, each offering a glimpse […]

DJ Bambi by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir (2023)

The novel is narrated in first person by Logn, a trans woman living alone in modern Reykjavík. She’s been searching the city’s beaches for a suitable place to end her life due to the despair of waiting six years for bottom surgery. She leaves a letter to her twin brother Trausti, who’s been visiting her […]

The Mark (Merking) by Fríða Ísberg (2021)

The novel is a story set in a slightly futuristic, dystopian version of Reykjavík, where customer service is predominantly handled by holograms, and a comprehensive virtual assistant named Zoé has replaced the likes of Siri and Alexa. The core of this society is the Empathy Test, which determines an individual’s status as either a “marked […]