Miss Iceland (Ungfrú Ísland)
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir1st published as Ungfrú Ísland by Benedikt in Iceland in 2018
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, & 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 Ulyssess & 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 theater, but can only find dangerous, backbreaking work on fishing trawlers. Hekla’s opportunities are equally limited: marriage & 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 & conservative world.
And yet that world is changing: JFK is shot & hemlines are rising. In Iceland another volcano erupts & 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 & masterful acuity from one of our most celebrated Icelandic writers.
Audur Ava Ólafsdóttir was born in Iceland in 1958, studied art history in Paris, & has lectured in history of art at the University of Iceland. She is the author of six novels, a collection of poetry & four plays that have been performed at the National Theatre in Iceland & at the Reykjavik City Theatre. She also writes the lyrics for the Icelandic performance pop band Milkywhale. Her novels have been translated into over 25 languages & among them are The Greenhouse & Butterflies in November. The Greenhouse was translated into 22 languages. She currently lives & works in Reykjavik.