This is the story of Hekla who is named after one of the many volcanoes in Iceland. She is a born writer, and except when she works for a living, she just writes and reads. She has two close friends in her life, both struggling through their own lives.
This book is narrated by Hekla in the beginning of the 1960s, as she keeps moving from one place to another, first from her hometown to Reykjavik, then living in different homes there until she hits the road again. Money is scarce, and she needs to work in any day job she could find, harassed by several men in the process.  We learn that she is in fact a published author, but she uses pseudonyms to hide the fact that she is a woman, as she thinks no one will publish a book written by a woman author.
Narrative is delivered with a bit distant and unemotional voice, with short and clear sentences reporting daily events as if written in a journal. Writing style is somewhat unusual but story is interesting, with small dialogues and short letters intervening.
I definitely want to read some other books from this author.

This was a fascinating book that I wasn't sure I'd like because Iceland seemed so bleak. But I ended up loving it as the messages were so clear. It's the 1960's and Helka has just moved to see an old girlfriend as well as her gay best friend, Jon. But because Helka is beautiful, men just want to put her on a pedestal to gawk at and keep mentioning the Miss Iceland competition. Helka has no desire for this; she just wants to work, write, and be appreciated for who she is. What she hears everywhere is, "You're a woman. Come to terms with that." This means of course that she should be content in a man's world where she will always be considered a second-class citizen and where her friend Jon must hide in the shadows so no one will know he's gay. Fortunately, Helka has an inner strength and resolve as she refuses to give in to society and all of its outdated mores.

"You're the glacier that sparkles, I'm just a molehill. You're dangerous, I'm innocuous."

"When a man lives with a volcano, he knows there's glowing magma underneath..."

"I don't think it's the destructive power that attracts me, Helka dear, but the creative force."

---------------------------------------------------------

I've been to Iceland twice and boy does this novel capture the ambiance and tone of Iceland to a T!  Helka is a dreamer who doesn't quite fit into the dour, working class culture that surrounds her.  Her best friend Jon, is queer and longs to be a fashion designer. Her other closest friend Isey, is a houeswife longing to be anything but.

This story is about those who were born ahead of their time, early 60's Iceland was not very progressive and boy do these three suffer. There were many sections that were hard to read, the degradation the poet piles upon Hekla, the minimization of Isey by Lykdur, the humiliation heaped upon Jon. Hard to read but there is hope in how they push for progress in their own lives. This would have been a solid 4 stars for me except the end left me really wanting, I'm landing it at 3.5 stars from me. The language of the story was just beautiful at times, reminds me of Sally Rooney's writing, well worth a read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for a review copy in exchange for my honest feedback.

Today, when you hear an Icelandic author mentioned, you might expect their writing to be in the crime fiction genre in the tradition of Yrsa Sigurdardottir or Ragnar Jonasson. Miss Iceland shows no sign of the moody, Nordic landscape, tumultuous weather or dead bodies. In fact, reading Icelandic literature where no-one gets murdered is an interesting change.

Full review: https://wanderingwestswords.wordpress.com/2020/07/31/miss-iceland-audur-ava-olafsdottir/

This book was a perfect escape during these strange times. The writing is atmospheric and the landscape of Iceland and the characters’ home villages play an important role as the backdrop for Hekla’s story. It was a great bit of escapism when wanting to travel somewhere besides the grocery store.

Hekla wants to be a poet, novelist, a writer and so she leaves her hometown for Reykjavik. Two of her close childhood friends are already living there-a housewife and a queer male. She is aggressively recruited for a Miss Iceland pageant and rebuffs all pursuers time and again in favor of her true passion-writing. Men are constantly bothering here in the hotel where she works as a serving girl. 

Isey is what Hekla’s life if supposed to be...raising babies and taking care of the home. She clearly rejects this and the notion that women are meant to be “seen and not heard”. I noticed whenever she visited her friend, she would always refer to the baby as “the child” in the narration. A possible way of distancing herself further from motherhood?

The men in her life want her to be a pageant queen or homemaker....except for one...Jon John. Her friend from home who lives furtively as a gay man. She has a boyfriend poet who is threatened by her presumably superior writing and keeps pushing her to be domestic. He asks her if she wouldn’t like a home to put her own mark on with a dining table and tablecloth...Even though he knows she spend every evening at the typewriter.

At times I found it hard to see Hekla as clearly as the other characters despite her being the protagonist. Perhaps this is just due to her “cold” nature but it helped me see her through the eyes of those around her. It’s no coincidence she’s seen reading Virginia Woolf and Simone de Beauvoir as she’s trying to carve her own path in life.

I really enjoyed following her friendship with Jon John and how they both supported each other in a way that no one else would. It was a heartwarming friendship in a cold place.

I really enjoyed this thoughtful novel about a young woman, Hekla, who moves to Reykjavik in her native Iceland, with aspirations to become a writer. The year is 1963 and sexism and homophobia are rife. Hekla attends the gatherings of poets and writers at a well-known café but soon becomes frustrated at the attitudes of men towards her. One keeps pushing her to become the eponymous Miss Iceland rather than taking her writing seriously. She works as a waitress during the day whilst trying to write in the evenings but it’s not easy. She meets a fellow poet some 10 years her senior and moves in with him but dares not admit that she writes as she knows he won’t be able to cope with her talent, not least because she manages to write a novel while all he can manage is a couple of poems. She has a good woman friend with whom she grew up but this friend is now trapped in marriage and motherhood. Hekla soon realizes that in early 1960s Iceland becoming a writer is not what beautiful young women are supposed to do and in a male-dominated society, where the 2 options are motherhood or beauty queen, she will continue to be thwarted in her ambitions. She knows she has to escape. It’s an intelligent and insightful exploration of Icelandic society and the position of women within it, and the reader can’t help but be drawn into Hekla’s frustrations. I found it a fascinating glimpse into another place and time, and Hekla’s journey compelling and engaging. A really interesting and absorbing read.

Miss Iceland follows aspiring writer Hekla, a soft spoken but creative Icelandic woman living in the restrictive 1960s. She doesn't want to take part in Miss Iceland and be a plaything, but she doesn't want to be a mother. As she tries to find her place within society, along with her queer friend Jon John, nothing much happens. It is not a plot-based book, but the narration is so evocative and full of yearning. The story flows and I found myself fully captivated. Highly recommend.

Miss Iceland | Audur Ava Ólafsdóttir, translated by Brian FitzGibbon
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Don't let the 'chick-lit-esque' front cover and title fool you. This book is beautifully wistful.
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Set in Iceland in 1960, we follow Hekla (named after a volcano) who's in her 20s. She's on a quest to be a published author. A female author? No chance. She faces adversity in her attempts. Many think she shouldn't even be trying. Others think that if she'd just apply to be Miss Iceland or wear her skirt a little shorter, she'd get along fine. Actually, as it happens, Hekla has been published, but under a male pseudonym.
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It's not just Hekla's battle that we're privy too. Her best friend Jon John plays a huge role in this novel. We learn of his queerness and how that's frowned upon. He's at real odds with himself. He just can't be who he wants to be - if you're gay, you're also an assumed paedophile.
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I really enjoyed this novel. It took me a while to get into the writing style but it was beautiful. You go on a real journey with Hekla and Jon John and it's really quite moving. It's almost written as a series of scenes. It's an interesting concept but one that really worked for me once I got used to it. It just had this lovely wistful, dreamlike feel to it. It's unlike anything I've ever read before.
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Thank you so much to @netgalley for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.
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⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5

I just couldn't get into the book. I only finished it because I wanted to see where it was going. Not going to share my review as I may be too unsophisticated....

Having been compelled to read Miss Iceland by Ava Ólafsdóttir following the enthusiastic five star review of a GR friend my expectations were possibly overly inflated.     Having waited a few days before writing my own review it's fair to say I enjoyed this book but in a quiet and understated kind of way.     Once finished I was easily able to move on and rarely reflected on the story or the characters any further.    

This was the story of Hekla, a young lady in her early twenties.   Set in Iceland in the 1960's I found myself intrigued by the prevalent  living and social conditions.    Hekla was a published writer but under a pseudonym - using the name of a male poet.      She worked hotel jobs to support herself suffering what I considered appalling conditions.   Sexual abuse at the hands of male patrons was the norm and though she worked the same number of tables she was paid at half the rate of her male counterparts.    Hekla had two best friends, one male, one female.    Isey, her female friend was also a writer but she had pursued the traditional female role of wife and mother and felt obliged to keep her writing hidden from her husband.     Though she was happy with her lot it was clear she was conflicted, sometimes feeling incredibly envious of Hekla's freedom.     Hekla's male friend Jon John was homosexual and carried a heavy burden for his differences.      Homosexuality was simply not accepted in Iceland in the 60's and he was often  called names, regularly shunned and sometimes beaten.  I felt for him, this kind hearted man who only wanted to love and be loved.     He said <b> “I wish I weren’t the way I am, but I can’t change that"</b> and  <b>“The liberation of queers is about as likely as men walking on the moon..."</b>.    

As it turns out he was right about that!   Though the story ended with Hekla and Jon John making personal compromises (sacrifices) the real life situation in Iceland is positive.     Google confirmed the portrayal of sexual inequality and treatment of homosexuals in 1960's Iceland was in all liklihood accurate.     However I was delighted (and surprised) to learn that today Iceland is considered one of the world's most feminist countries in the world and their LGBT rights are progressive.    One of the things I always enjoy about reading fiction is the way I simultaneously learn about the real world as has been the case here.

My thanks to the author, Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a novel that won’t appeal to all readers, although it did to me.
Iceland in the 60s. A young woman, Hekla, called after a volcano, is an aspiring writer who leaves her hometown hoping to become a novelist and get her works published in a world dominated by men. John Jón, her gay best friend, welcomes her in Reykjavik and together they struggle to be valued for their artistic qualities rather than their gender or sexual orientation.

Ólafsdóttir’s narration is far from conventional. Told in the first-person narrator, the reader never gets to know what Hekla is thinking. Her character is molded by the ponderings and written correspondence of the people who cross her path, giving the false impression of an impersonal storytelling which might be the reason why some readers fail to connect with her abstract voice. I, on the contrary, felt there were layers of significance in Hekla’s missing thoughts.
As the story progresses, Hekla becomes less and less delineated, her works get lost “out in the sea”, sent to publishers who never respond when they learn that a woman is the author of such unusual style. Instead, she is approached again and again by men in different contexts trying to convince her to take part in "Miss Iceland" beauty contest.

Hekla is an invisible woman. That she reads Sylvia Plath or Simone de Beauvoir is no coincidence. Like the lost female authors who never came to be in Virginia Woolf’s famous speech “A room of one’s own” , Hekla needs a male pseudonym to be taken seriously, to be recognized for her talent as a writer, otherwise she is merely a carcass, a beautiful face, an object to be displayed around by her male companions.
Her art, though, is the heart that beats within the layers of this novel. Her words are tangible and real. Her words are pure rhythm, composed with deftness, intelligence and the kind of inward poetry that captures perfectly the silent angst of running against the mainstream standards of a bigoted society. And the beauty of the Icelandic landscape, it’s in these paragraphs where Ólafsdóttir’s prose soars up high.

A quiet but poignant book about the unjust sacrifices an artist must go through to remain true to her art. Like the volcano that gives Hekla her name, the things that really matter explode inwardly in this tale, and sadly, most people don’t even notice.

4.5 Stars

A new author for me, set in a place I’ve never personally seen, although I’ve seen photographs that friends of mine took when they were in Reykjavik on business trips, the year for the main story is 1963, a year when much of the world was seeing changes. Changes in fashion, changes in music, and changes – at least in America – in politics, in the dreams to end racism, as well as relatively new visions for women about their own future. It was the year that four young men from Liverpool became a world-wide sensation, The Beatles, and John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and the year of the “March on Washington” and Rev. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, countless sit-in attempts, and other civil rights movement protests. The US involvement in Vietnam was growing, there was a military coup in Iraq, overthrowing Premier Abdel Karim Kassem, and on May 5th astronaut Gordon Cooper completed 22 orbits of earth, and a little more than a month later, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to orbit the earth. A Buddhit monk self immolates in Saigon in protests South Vietnamese government’s persecution again Buddhists. In the US, the average annual income was $5,807.00, an average new house cost $12,650.00 and the average new car cost $3,233.00, while a gallon of gas was 29 cents. LGBT legal protections advanced in some places in the 1960’s, but attitudes were another thing. The world had become a smaller place, and advances were made in some areas, where in others, people dug in their heels and resisted the thoughts of a life where women could be equal to men, and where sexual orientation didn’t determine your worth. Sexism and homophobia were the ‘norm’ and equality was for straight white men only. In 1960’s Iceland, women were either mothers or, if they had the honor of being chosen as Miss Iceland, a beauty queen, they had, at least, a brief reprieve from marriage and motherhood.

Hekla’s father named her for a volcano when she was born, and he took her to see it erupt when she was four and a half years old. When they returned, her mother tells her after some time about how that journey had changed her.

’You spoke differently. You spoke in volcanic language and used words like sublime, magnificent and ginormous. You had discovered the world above and looked up at the sky. You started to disappear and we found you out in the fields, where you lay observing the clouds; in the winter, we found you out on a mound of snow, contemplating the stars.’

This story is primarily Hekla’s, a 21-year-old woman who moves to Reykjavik, the heartland of literature for Iceland. Hekla is a writer who works as a waitress for money to live on, enduring the harassment by male customers at a café and is slowly working her way through reading Ulysses. The café where she works is a favourite of the local poets, writers who meet there regularly. A man offers her the opportunity to become “Miss Iceland,” persisting over and over, trying to convince her of this golden opportunity, while others simply harass her for her looks.

Her childhood friend is a woman who now has children and inundates her with the good, the bad and the ugly of motherhood. Her closest friend, David Jón John Johnsson, a man who works on a whaling ship. Jón John, who knows her best and loves her, confides in her, shares his fears as a gay man in a world that fears and abhors him, and his heartbreaks over the men who use him, making sure he knows they aren’t gay and swearing him to secrecy.

’This earth doesn’t belong to me. I only know what it’s like to be pressed into it.’

There’s something about this book, this story, the writing that was so atmospheric, that transported me to this place and this time, which made it hard for me to leave these people, and this place behind when I reached the last page. As melancholy as this story seems at times, there is so much beauty in the sharing, I felt enveloped in this sense of timelessness, where I wished I could just stay a little longer.


Published: 16 Jun 2020

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Grove Atlantic / Grove Press, Black Cat

I love everything by Audur Ava Olafsdottir.  Reading this book in a heat wave made me even more aware of how atmospheric her writing is.  The dreary cold and daily drudgery of 1963 Iceland, rife with homophobia and misogyny, is explored through the characters of Hekla and Jon John.   Both are artists, and both suffer the constraints placed on them by a backward patriarchal society.

This book did not work for what I wanted, which was for inclusion in my subscription box. The writing is interesting -- very sparse. Definitely a different kind of storytelling than I am used to.

If you have ever seen TV or movie scenes set in Iceland, this will give you a leg up in reading the book. You can envision the characters in their daily lives. That is important as there isn’t  much action to be had in this book. If one loves atmosphere and words, then this is the book for you.

An average book. What caught my attention in the release is that it's about 2 artists in Reykjavik. Set in the 60s, mostly it seems to be about the difficulty of being a woman author and that she's given no respect. Her 2 best friends are a gay man who is constantly discriminated against and bemoaning his fate, and a woman who is married w/ 2 kids at 22 and bemoaning her fate. Lots of bemoaning. The biggest nod to its setting is the names. We were in Reykjavik a few years ago and I actually recognized a couple of the street and area names, so that provided me some mental images. The writing style is almost free verse poetic, kind of random sometimes and difficult to understand the point. Overall, my take is that it's ......okay. (And can I just say that the cover is terrible and somehow implies a much lighter read that it really is - it's actually kind of dark.)
Thanks so much to #NetGalley and #GrovePress for the chance to read and offer my opinion on this book.

Miss Iceland, with its colorful cover and description, is not the optimistic romp you might be expecting. Instead, it is a heartbreaking look at the struggles women have faced in achieving their professional goals, regardless of whether or not they possess the talent to do so. Set in Iceland in the 1960's, I found myself frequently angry on behalf of the main character, and occasionally angry AT her for not standing up for herself more powerfully. Ultimately, it felt like a true and saddening opportunity to walk in her shoes, albeit one written in beautiful prose. I found myself too disappointed in the ending to rate this five stars, but then, if a book makes you feel that deeply and examine your opportunities so closely, perhaps it deserves the best rating after all.

Thank you to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating:   2.5 stars rounded down to 2 stars

I was so optimistic about this book.  It is a work of historical fiction (set in the 1960’s).  It is set in Iceland. It centers on a woman who has an internal compulsion to write.  Three Strikes, ‘You’re In’.  I quickly added it to my NetGalley reading queue.   Despite those things that attracted me to this book, it just fell a bit flat for me.  

We meet Hekla as she takes the bus from her small village to move to Reykjavik.  Upon arriving in Reykjavik, she initially moves in with a good friend from her village, Jon John.  Jon John is gay, and struggles with his own issues in 1960’s Iceland.  He is also out at sea, working on fishing boats, a great deal of the time.   Then Hekla meets a guy who has dreams of being a poet, and she eventually moves in with him.  

Sadly, in this era and region, Hekla can’t get anyone to take her writing seriously.  All sorts of men are constantly complimenting her on her beauty.  One creepy guy keeps asking her to be in her ‘Miss Iceland’ pageant.  Her writing skills are always discounted.  She can’t even share her writing with her ‘poet’ boyfriend for fear of his ridicule, or his emasculation.  He talks about writing.  She writes.

The plot was just sad to me.  When I was picturing the story in my mind, it was running as a grainy Black and White film.  It was not in Technicolor.  The book’s pace is slow.  The people were either full of angst and quiet desperation, or were self-absorbed jerks.  Perhaps that is how it really was in the 1960’s in Iceland.   I am so grateful that I was not a woman, or gay, coming-of-age in that era and location.  There were moments and passages of radiant writing.  There were also many times that it felt like the author was just trying too hard to be profound.   It turns out that for me, this book should have been Three Strikes, ‘You’re Out’.  

‘Thank-You’ to NetGalley; the publisher, Grove Atlantic, Black Cat; and the author, Audur Ava Olafsdottir for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

There is so much I want to share - I’m ACHING!!!!!!
Guess, I just need to rant a minute....
Here goes>>>>>>> LOVE ACHE LOVE ACHE LOVE ACHE LOVE ACHE ....
TEARS....I’m trying to type through tears....
I can’t express enough the impact this book has on me....GOD,  I’M SOOOOOOOOOO GLAD I READ IT!  
Thank you, thank you, thank you: Audur Ave Olafsdottir, Grove Atlantic, and Netgalley!!!!!!   BIG TIME THANK YOU!!!!!

Perhaps it’s our pandemic, [ GRIEVING for and with our families, friends, and communities, with at ‘least’ 440,000 worldwide deaths], due to the coronavirus....
Or 
The reality of racial inequality, injustice, discrimination - the need for serious police reform -  [BLACK LIVES MATTER] -
Or 
America’s policy issues: Conservatism vs. Progressivism, 
Or
our overall health care system, concerns 
Or
immigration issues 
Or
our election integrity......
BUT THIS BOOK is one of the most harrowing, powerful, and imaginative books novels I’ve read this year!!!
It’s little.....thin-slim....
Great things come in small packages!   It won’t take long to read....( but I admit reading parts several times)....I loved this small fry story....so I was in no rush to speed read it.  
Oh, my god.... I did something I never do. At 95% done....only 5% more to read — I purposely put the book down for a few hours.   
And WOW..... how did I intuitively know that was a smart move?   I wasn’t expecting to feel so emotional in the last 5 percent. 

Intellectually speaking..... I can say what this book covers:
          It explores freedom, sexism, homophobia, misogyny, artistic fulfillment, and friendship.....
          ......haunted by history, piercing literary imagination......
an unassailable tribute to *hope*.....in the shadow of absurdities, layered consciousness, and harsh realities.  
Olafsdottir’s sublime talent....plunges into the superficial...plunged right into my heart!

Emotionally speaking ......it goes much deeper than words. 
Its ‘experientially’ felt!  

I loved everything about this book....the narrative, the descriptions, the dialogue, the characters, the Icelandic atmosphere, the gorgeous prose, the emotions I’m feeling now (ache, sadness, appreciation, hope, empathy, and love) 

I’m embarrassed to say this next sentence (again).....as I’ve been here before - and......
I don’t want to come off sounding like a wacky cheerleader......
but truth be told....
when a book is THIS DEAR TO MY HEART....
I WANT TO SCREAM TO MY FRIENDS....***READ IT***

The ending ZAPPED ME.....I WILL THINK ABOUT IT FOR A LONG TIME!!!

Some specifics: 
.....We follow Hekla Gottskalksdottir....(in her 20’s), she wants to be a writer.  The book begins in the 1940’s. .....moves into the 1960’s. 
Hekla left Dalir for Reykjavik......to work ....to write. ( more backstory about her family, birth, name, parents are learned). 
Iceland has many male poets...but women poets? women novelists? They are pretty much chopped liver. 

Society men would prefer Hekla to raise her skirt above her knees and doll herself up, rather than wear comfy trousers.  And why should it matter to others what anyone wants to wear?  

.....We meet Hekla’s best ‘guy’ friend: Jon John.  He’s gay. He wishes he had a real boyfriend. He also wishes to work in a costume department have a theater....designing and sewing for Shakespeare plays and other theater productions. 

.....We meet Hekla’s best girl friend, Isey,  ( married with one little girl; later a second girl baby is born).  Isey’s husband, Lydur worries ( a little) that Hekla might be influencing Isey with too much nonsense about writing.  
Jon John says:
            “Men only want to sleep with me when they’re drunk, they don’t want to talk afterwords and be friends. While they’re pulling up their trousers, they make you swear three times that you won’t tell anyone. They take you to the outskirts of Heidmork and you’re lucky if they drive you back into town”. 

     “I wish I weren’t the way I am, but I can’t change that. Men are meant to go with women. I sleep with men”. 

     “I don’t belong to any group,
Hekla. I am a mistake who shouldn’t have been born. He hesitates.
I can’t make sense of myself. I don’t know where I come from. This earth doesn’t belong to me. I only know what it’s like to be pressed into it”. 
  

.....We meet Starkadur (often referred to as ‘The Poet’). He becomes Hekla’s boyfriend. He wishes to be a great writer...but can’t think of what to write.  

**** All the characters were struggling with ‘something’!   I cherished the many sides sides of the characters dispositions .....and learned from each of them.

.....We meet Odin....the cat 🐱 

An atmospheric visual: ( a mouthful of Icelandic street names)... 
          I moved out of the attic room on Styrimannastigur into the attic room on Skolavordustigur”. 
“ In the basement there is an upholstery store, beside which are a dairy shop and a picture framer, diagonally across from a cobbler and barber. There is also a corner shop, a dry cleaners and a toy workshop where they replace the eyes of dolls that have been damaged”. 

Want to know about *Miss Iceland*?   Every girls dream? Ha! 
“...Miss Iceland gets a crown and sceptre, a blue Icelandic festival costume with a golden belt for the competition on Long Island, two gowns and a coat with a fur collar. She gets to stand on stage and go to nightclubs and meet famous boxers and she gets her picture in the papers”. .....
                    .......Hekla isn’t interested in the beauty society! 
              “A single sentence is more important than my body”, Hekla thinks. 

Isey asks Hekla, “which do you want most, to have a boyfriend or write books?” 
In Hekla’s dream world,
“the most important things would be: a sheet of paper, fountain pen and a male body. 
“When we’ve finished making love, he’s welcome to ask if he can refill the fountain pen with ink for me”. 

Isey says, “ Women have to choose, Hekla”. 
“Both in equal measure”. 
Hekla adds, “I need to be both alone and not alone”. 
“That means that you are both a writer and ordinary”.

Gorgeous moments....
“The skylight has misted up in the night, a white patina of snow has formed on the windowsill. I drape the poets sweater over me, move into the kitchen to get a cloth to wipe it up. A trail of sleet streams down the glass, I traced it with my finger. Apart from the squawk of seagulls, a desolate stillness reigns over Skolavordustigur”. 

A quandary....( a jealous boyfriend?)....hmmmm?.
             “He stopped reading for me, he’s stop saying: Listen to this, Hekla. 
“Instead he wants to know if I’ve written today. And for how long”. 
“Were you writing?” 
“Yes, I reply”. 
“How many pages?”
“I skim through the manuscript: twelve”. 
“You’ve changed so much since we met. If you’re not working, you’re writing. If you’re not writing, you’re reading. You’d drain your own veins if you ran out of ink. Sometimes I feel you only moved in with me to have a roof over your head”. 

Know much about Ptarmigans?  I googled a YouTube video and watched how a funny guy cooked OUT IN THE SNOW of about 9 degrees.....a ptarmigan in olive oil, garlic, onions cabbage carrots ...adding ‘the Ptarmigan’, last.   
.............[a northern grouse of mountainous and arctic regions, with feathered legs and feet]


Our younger daughter worked 3 different summers in Iceland.  Its where she met her husband.  They live in a Canada today. 
I’d love to visit Iceland 🇮🇸 ... but whether or not that ever happens...
I will always cherish this story....with an ending that made me cry!

Recently translated from the original Icelandic, Miss Iceland is a novel about a young aspiring novelist named Hekla in 1960s Reykjavik. She moves from her small town into the city to pursue her dream. Staying with a childhood friend, Jon John, they are both confronted with prejudiced views of the time, he for being gay and she for being a woman.

This book is kind of quiet and slow-paced, but I really liked the characters and the ambiance. I liked Hekla’s strong character and her commitment to her writing. I felt gutted by the injustices she and Jon John faced. The sense of entitlement with which Hekla was treated by men was sickening. Aside from that, the setting in place and time were quite intriguing and absorbing.

It gave me vibes of the Beat generation, with the artistic community, and the poets café. The posturing among the male artists, and their treatment of Hekla, who is successful in her own right, must have been the experience of many female writers throughout history. The character of Isey was an interesting almost foil to Hekla’s character, kind of a window onto her path not taken. The book swept me through a range of emotions, from bleak and despairing to hopeful. I liked the matter-of-fact writing style and the overall tone of the book. I think it would appeal to readers of different genres and especially to aspiring writers. It is unusual, but worth the read!

Thank you to NetGalley for the free review copy of this book!