I’ve been to Iceland twice and I love their literature, I will read anything set in the unique environment, especially if it takes place off the beaten path like this one. Una’s life is plodding along at a mediocre pace with no real success or joy. When she sees an add for a teacher in a remote fishing village, she responds looking for a bit of a change. When she arrives and realizes the village only boasts ten people with two students for her to teach, she begins to wonder just what she signed up for.
Jónasson does a fabulous job of bringing that stark, insular nature of Iceland to the page. The villagers are wary of her invading their small hamlet and keep her at an arm’s length. As she desperately tries to integrate she begins to learn more about the village and its inhabitants, a story about a young girl who died 60 years ago begins to haunt her. She begins to see the girl and hear her singing a lullaby which has her drinking a little more and becoming more and more suspicious of her fellow villagers. The story is slow and expertly builds an eerie atmosphere that has you wondering about these villagers too.
The ending was not what I was expecting, I was really hoping for the two main mysteries to come together in a related way but it didn’t. The author does answer all of your questions but I had just hoped that there was a different explanation of it all. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this novel. All opinions above are my own.
Have you ever been to Iceland? If not, is it on your bucket list?
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