Butterflies in November

September 8, 2014
“One of the things that characterizes a bad relationship is when people start feeling an obligation to have a child together.” So says the unnamed narrator of Ólafsdótti’s (The Greenhouse) novel, a woman dumped twice in the same day: first by her lover, because she will not commit to him, and then by her husband, because she will not commit to domestic life—particularly the idea of having children. Luck answers her call for change when she wins the lottery. However, as soon as she plans an isolated vacation in a faraway bungalow, she ends up accepting temporary responsibility for her friend’s child, a four-year-old deaf-mute boy. She and the boy set off on a road trip through Iceland where they kill various animals; pass by a lava field, a cucumber farm, and a Wild West motel; and cross paths with a cow portraitist, an ex-lover, and, maybe, a future lover. Ólafsdótti’s novel is outlandish, yet the protagonist’s conviction is plausible enough for the circumstances to feel authentic. The story explores what freedom really means when romantic and familial bonds are pushed aside.

November 15, 2014
An unlikely kinship develops in this strange Icelandic road trip novel. Olafsdottir's (The Greenhouse, 2011) narrator is an unnamed, 33-year-old translator who's married with no kids and a lover. Clueless about her boyfriend, her husband cites her frequent absences and lack of interest in motherhood as the two main reasons he's divorcing her. That and the fact that he's expecting a child with another woman. As it happens, her lover also dumped her just hours before. "Destiny isn't something to be trifled with," she says; "in a single day I've lost my home and my neat little past." Adding a touch of prophecy to the tale, she has her fortune told: "There's a lottery prize here, money and a journey. I see a circular road, and I also see another ring that will fit on a finger, later. You'll never be the same again." She actually wins two lotteries (a mobile "bungalow" and millions of kronur), and after a good friend who's pregnant with twins is put on bed rest with a broken ankle, she agrees to care for Tumi, her friend's 4-year-old son, who's deaf and has poor eyesight. Olafsdottir's measured, often lyrical prose adds tension to the plot's theatrics, as if life and fate are loud and humans must respond quickly to survive. Destination uncertain, the odd couple drives Iceland's Ring Road, a desolate, unseasonably warm place (hence the butterflies of the title) peopled with rural folk who offer bursts of social commentary. Besides quick sex with a few men, life quiets down for the narrator after she and Tumi move into their countryside bungalow. Looking back while trying to move on, she does end up in love; it's something new, requiring immense risk. To end weirdly, Olafsdottir throws in 40 pages of recipes for things like Icelandic pancakes, sheep's head jelly, undrinkable coffee and sour whale. Thoughtful and fun, if somewhat baffling; a novel of surprising tension and tenderness.

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September 1, 2014

Within a short time span, a young woman in Iceland has a series of life-changing events: her husband and her lover both dump her on the same day, she wins two successive lotteries, and her friend's four-year-old disabled son falls under her care. The convergence of these events leads her to take a journey around Iceland's Ring Road. Along the way, she and her traveling companion have numerous strange and interesting encounters with locals and animals of various kinds. Initially off-putting because the unnamed narrator and most of the other adult characters are so self-centered, this novel by award-winning Icelandic novelist Olafsdottir (The Greenhouse) hits its stride once the odyssey begins, becoming a funny and bizarre travelog of Iceland's unique culture and landscape. VERDICT Much of the humor comes from the (often unsuccessful) attempts of people throughout the country to cater to the tourism industry. The many coincidences become plausible once you realize how isolated and sparse is the population of Iceland, and, eventually you give in to the quirky spirit of the book and its heroine. With a bonus appendix of recipes for food mentioned in the text. [See Prepub Alert, 6/8/14.]--Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2014

Translated into 22 languages, Olafsdottir's The Greenhouse won a stack of awards worldwide; her new work sounds like wicked fun that could break her out here. Having been dumped by her husband and her lover in a single day, our heroine suddenly finds herself taking care of a friend's deaf-mute four-year-old son. When he picks the winning number in a lottery, the two set out on an improbable road trip across Iceland, encountering sheep, lava fields, black-sand beaches, an Estonian choir, and two exes trying to make amends. The book has been optioned for film, to be shot on site in English with an American actress, which suggests broad appeal.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.