"Iceland in the 1960s. Hekla always knew she wanted to be a writer. In a nation of poets, where each household proudly displays leatherbound volumes of the Sagas, and there are more writers per capita than anywhere else in the world, there is only one problem: she is a woman. After packing her few belongings, including James Joyce's Ulysses and a Remington typewriter, Hekla heads for Reykjavâik with a manuscript buried in her bags. She moves in with her friend Jon, a gay man who longs to work in the theater, but can only find dangerous, backbreaking work on fishing trawlers. Hekla's opportunities are equally limited: marriage and babies, or her job as a waitress, in which harassment from customers is part of the daily grind. The two friends feel completely out of place in a small and conservative world. And yet that world is changing: JFK is shot and hemlines are rising. In Iceland another volcano erupts and Hekla meets a poet who brings to light harsh realities about her art. Hekla realizes she must escape to find freedom abroad, whatever the cost. Miss Iceland is a novel of extraordinary poise and masterful acuity from one of our most celebrated Icelandic writers"-- - (Baker & Taylor)

The extraordinary new novel from Nordic Council Literature Prize-winning Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir

Iceland in the 1960s. Hekla always knew she wanted to be a writer. In a nation of poets, where each household proudly displays leatherbound volumes of the Sagas, and there are more writers per capita than anywhere else in the world, there is only one problem: she is a woman.

After packing her few belongings, including James Joyces’s Ulysess and a Remington typewriter, Hekla heads for Reykjavik with a manuscript buried in her bags. She moves in with her friend Jon, a gay man who longs to work in the theatre, but can only find dangerous, backbreaking work on fishing trawlers. Hekla’s opportunities are equally limited: marriage and babies, or her job as a waitress, in which harassment from customers is part of the daily grind. The two friends feel completely out of place in a small and conservative world.

And yet that world is changing: JFK is shot and hemlines are rising. In Iceland another volcano erupts and Hekla meets a poet who brings to light harsh realities about her art. Hekla realizes she must escape to find freedom abroad, whatever the cost.

Miss Iceland is a novel of extraordinary poise and masterful acuity from one of our most celebrated Icelandic writers.

The extraordinary new novel from Nordic Council Literature Prize-winning Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir, Miss Iceland tells the incisive story of Hekla, a brilliant young woman named after an active volcano who longs to make it as a writer in 1960s Iceland - (Lightning Source, Inc. Ebooks)

"Will appeal to readers of Elena Ferrante and Margaret Atwood . . . the unusual setting offers an interesting twist on the portrait of an artist as a young woman." —Bookpage
In 1960s Iceland, Hekla dreams of being a writer. In a nation of poets, where each household proudly displays leatherbound volumes of the Sagas, and there are more writers per capita than anywhere else in the world, there is only one problem: she is a woman.
After packing her few belongings, including James Joyces's Ulysses and a Remington typewriter, Hekla heads for Reykjavik with a manuscript buried in her bags. She moves in with her friend Jon, a gay man who longs to work in the theatre, but can only find dangerous, backbreaking work on fishing trawlers. Hekla's opportunities are equally limited: marriage and babies, or her job as a waitress, in which harassment from customers is part of the daily grind. The two friends feel completely out of place in a small and conservative world.
And yet that world is changing: JFK is shot. Hemlines are rising. In Iceland, another volcano erupts and Hekla meets a poet who brings to light harsh realities about her art—as she realizes she must escape to find freedom abroad, whatever the cost.
Miss Iceland, a winner of two international book awards, comes from the acclaimed author of Hotel Silence, which received the Icelandic Literary Prize.
"Only a great book can make you feel you're really there, a thousand miles and a generation away. I loved it." —Kit de Waal, author of My Name is Leon
"[A] winning tale of friendship and self-fulfillment." —Publishers Weekly, starred review - (Open Road Media)

Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir is an Icelandic prize-winning novelist, playwright and a poet. She is the author of six novels, a collection of poetry and four plays that have been performed at the National Theatre in Iceland and at the Reykjavik City Theatre. She also writes the lyrics for the Icelandic performance pop band Milkywhale. Auður Ava's novels have been translated into over 25 languages and among them are The Greenhouse and Butterflies in November. Her last novel, Hotel Silence, won the Nordic Council Literature Prize and the Icelandic Literary Prize. Her forthcoming novel Miss Iceland won the Icelandic Bookseller's Prize. Auður Ava lives in Reykjavik. - (Lightning Source, Inc. Ebooks)

Booklist Reviews

Opportunities for women in Iceland in the early 1960s are so limited as to be nonexistent. There is the traditional path of motherhood, or, if one is particularly lovely, there is the omnipresent pressure to compete for the title of the nation's ultimate beauty queen, Miss Iceland. Hekla, already a published author and poet, wants to follow neither of these paths and so decamps for the big city of Reykjavik, where she lives with her best friend, Jon, a gay man whose life choices are even more restricted. Hekla lives to write, yet when she falls in love with the local librarian, also an aspiring poet, she finds herself increasingly subjected to the traditional roles of cook, decorator, and all-around helpmeet. When she and Jon decide to escape their prescribed existence, they marry so as to provide the safest cover for their twin journeys of discovery. As elegantly cold and foreboding as the Icelandic landscape itself, Olafsdottir's languid and melancholy portrait of a writer with a singular passion demonstrates the sacrifices women have always made for their art. Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews.

Library Journal Reviews

After saying good-bye to her father and her small town, Hekla travels to Reykjavík to find a job; live with her best friend, Jón John, who is gay; and write as much as possible. But Iceland in the 1960s is not receptive to women writers. Apart from working as a waitress and fending off the aggressive advances of male customers, her only options are to compete for the Miss Iceland title or to marry and have children like her childhood friend Ísey. In her sixth novel, award-winning author Ólafsdóttir (Hotel Silence) paints a vivid portrait of Iceland: cold weather, volcanic eruptions, northern lights, whale hunting, darkness, sexism, and homophobia. Hekla, who is named after a volcano, perseveres with help from Jón John, her father, and Ísey, even if an affair with a poet ends when he discovers that she is the better writer. For Hekla and Jón John to survive, they must leave. VERDICT In this excellent introduction to her work, Ólafsdóttir creates a world where either escape or hiding one's true nature are the only choices. [See Prepub Alert, 12/2/19.]—Jacqueline Snider, Toronto