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Karitas #1
Karitas, l'esquisse d'un rêve
Karitas rêve d’être peintre. Dans la ferme familiale, perdue au fond d’un fjord d’Islande, elle dessine, comme son père disparu en mer le lui a appris. Vouée à saler les harengs, son destin bascule quand une mystérieuse artiste révèle son talent et l’envoie à l’académie des Beaux-Arts de Copenhague. À son retour, Karitas n’a qu’un souhait : monter son exposition et consacrer sa vie à l’art abstrait.
Paru en 2008 sous le titre Karitas, sans titre.
(description de l'éditeur)
ISBN 13: 9782757824832; alternate cover.
Paru en 2008 sous le titre Karitas, sans titre.
(description de l'éditeur)
ISBN 13: 9782757824832; alternate cover.
544 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
172 people are currently reading
2879 people want to read
About the author
Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir
24 books130 followersKristín Marja Baldursdóttir was born on January 21, 1949 in Hafnarfjörður. She graduated from Iceland's Teacher Training College in 1970 and received a B.A. degree in German and Icelandic from the University of Iceland in 1991. Kristín studied German at the Goethe Institut in Bremen in Germany from 1979 - 1980, took courses in education in Denmark 1985 - 1986 and a journalist course in Germany in 1992. She taught at the primary schools in Reykjavík from 1975 – 1988. In 1988 Kristín Marja switched jobs and started working as a journalist for the daily Morgunblaðið until 1995.
Kristín Marja's first novel, Mávahlátur (Seagull's Laughter) was published in 1995. The book was adapted for the stage and shown in the Reykjavík City Theatre in 1998. The novel was also filmed by Ágúst Guðmundsson in 2001 and received many awards at the Icelandic Edda-festival that year (The Icelandic film and television prize). Kristín Marja has since published other novels, a short story collection and written the biography of writer Vilborg Dagbjartsdóttir, Mynd af konu (Picture of a Woman), published in 2001.
Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir lives in Reykjavík. She is married with three grown daughters.
Kristín Marja's first novel, Mávahlátur (Seagull's Laughter) was published in 1995. The book was adapted for the stage and shown in the Reykjavík City Theatre in 1998. The novel was also filmed by Ágúst Guðmundsson in 2001 and received many awards at the Icelandic Edda-festival that year (The Icelandic film and television prize). Kristín Marja has since published other novels, a short story collection and written the biography of writer Vilborg Dagbjartsdóttir, Mynd af konu (Picture of a Woman), published in 2001.
Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir lives in Reykjavík. She is married with three grown daughters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 178 reviews
August 9, 2022
I was really drawn to this book by the cover and then the description. I wonder if some of the story was lost in translation since no matter how talented to translate a story from one culture to another is impossible. I found the book hard to get into and found myself checking to see how much further I had left. I did like the first section the best, with Karitas as a child. It was a slow paced family drama and if you are interested in life in Iceland in the early 1900’s this book will interest you. I know culture is probably a piece, but I had a hard time reading some of the choices Karitas and her partner made in the middle to the end of the book. The writing was pretty and Karitas’ art did seem to come off of the page.
April 15, 2022
It would be mischievously troll-like to gush about this novel in English as it is not actually available in that language, but no fear! For one thing I'm no malicious trickster and for another there's not a lot for me to enthuse over.
Iceland is a phenomenon. With a population of only around 320,00, comparable, say, to Bonn or Pittsburgh, it takes a prize as one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. Nevertheless it sustains an amazingly vibrant reading and book publishing culture, a bibliophile's paradise. From Reykjavik's (successful) bid to be instated as a UNESCO City of Literature:
...according to Statistics Iceland, there are about five titles published per 1.000 Icelanders, but similar statistics over the other Nordic countries show two to two-and-a-half per 1.000 inhabitants. The Icelandic Publishers' Association now counts 37 companies, which has to be considered quite numerous for such a small nation, and yet there are several other businesses outside of the Association that also publish books. Six-hundred-seventy-eight new titles were announced by 127 publishers in the Icelandic Publishers' Association's Annual Book Registry in 2010, most of which are situated in Reykjavík. The average print run of fiction is 1.000 copies, which, per capita, corresponds to a million copies in the United States.
With such abundance, sorting wheat from chaff is the problem. Iceland was the Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2011, which led to features in the review sections, and Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir is an experienced writer, considered to be one of Iceland's leading novelists. Then the theme seemed appealing: the story is set in the early 20th century, a time of huge shifts in society. In 1900, 80% of the population lived in rural areas, a hundred years later only 6%. And it starts really well: part one focuses on the harsh life of a widow who uproots her six children and moves to Akureyri where the women can share in the wealth of the silver from the sea, salting herrings into barrels and stripping the skin off their hands at the same time.
Here, the story sings. Stark images, a taste and feel of the sea and the salt and the sky. An original structure, with the third person narrative cross-cut by descriptions in the first person of drawings and sketches and how they arose.
The artist is the youngest of the three daughters of our dauntless widow, and gets her lucky break, the chance to go away to Copenhagen and study at the Academy there. I was hoping for an insightful investigation into the role of art in a society emerging from hard-scrabble poverty into modest, but growing prosperity - and a society, at that, without a long visual arts tradition. Unfortunately, when our intrepid artist returns to Iceland, she gets de-railed by the need to earn a living and the arrival on the scene of a hunk of manhood. And the story goes as flat as a five-week old balloon.
I'm sure this was deliberate: the artist's life goes flat, so flat indeed that she suffers a kind of mental breakdown, but boy does it make for tough reading. Part two is as long and as tedious as an Icelandic winter, without the relief of a shindig and whisky. I battled on manfully, inspired by these strong women, equal to any task, yay! But part three brings little joy - the artist finds sanctuary with yet another houseful of women, at least I think they were mostly women, the names are not always much help, and characterisation was minimalist in the extreme. In fact I found part three completely mystifying. Until I realised that this story Is To Be Continued in Die Farben der Insel. Not by me though.
Iceland is a phenomenon. With a population of only around 320,00, comparable, say, to Bonn or Pittsburgh, it takes a prize as one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. Nevertheless it sustains an amazingly vibrant reading and book publishing culture, a bibliophile's paradise. From Reykjavik's (successful) bid to be instated as a UNESCO City of Literature:
...according to Statistics Iceland, there are about five titles published per 1.000 Icelanders, but similar statistics over the other Nordic countries show two to two-and-a-half per 1.000 inhabitants. The Icelandic Publishers' Association now counts 37 companies, which has to be considered quite numerous for such a small nation, and yet there are several other businesses outside of the Association that also publish books. Six-hundred-seventy-eight new titles were announced by 127 publishers in the Icelandic Publishers' Association's Annual Book Registry in 2010, most of which are situated in Reykjavík. The average print run of fiction is 1.000 copies, which, per capita, corresponds to a million copies in the United States.
With such abundance, sorting wheat from chaff is the problem. Iceland was the Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2011, which led to features in the review sections, and Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir is an experienced writer, considered to be one of Iceland's leading novelists. Then the theme seemed appealing: the story is set in the early 20th century, a time of huge shifts in society. In 1900, 80% of the population lived in rural areas, a hundred years later only 6%. And it starts really well: part one focuses on the harsh life of a widow who uproots her six children and moves to Akureyri where the women can share in the wealth of the silver from the sea, salting herrings into barrels and stripping the skin off their hands at the same time.
Here, the story sings. Stark images, a taste and feel of the sea and the salt and the sky. An original structure, with the third person narrative cross-cut by descriptions in the first person of drawings and sketches and how they arose.
The artist is the youngest of the three daughters of our dauntless widow, and gets her lucky break, the chance to go away to Copenhagen and study at the Academy there. I was hoping for an insightful investigation into the role of art in a society emerging from hard-scrabble poverty into modest, but growing prosperity - and a society, at that, without a long visual arts tradition. Unfortunately, when our intrepid artist returns to Iceland, she gets de-railed by the need to earn a living and the arrival on the scene of a hunk of manhood. And the story goes as flat as a five-week old balloon.
I'm sure this was deliberate: the artist's life goes flat, so flat indeed that she suffers a kind of mental breakdown, but boy does it make for tough reading. Part two is as long and as tedious as an Icelandic winter, without the relief of a shindig and whisky. I battled on manfully, inspired by these strong women, equal to any task, yay! But part three brings little joy - the artist finds sanctuary with yet another houseful of women, at least I think they were mostly women, the names are not always much help, and characterisation was minimalist in the extreme. In fact I found part three completely mystifying. Until I realised that this story Is To Be Continued in Die Farben der Insel. Not by me though.
April 27, 2016
Dieu que cette histoire était bouleversante ... L'écriture est si particulière, elle participe de l'intense immersion dans l'univers de Karitas, cette jeune fille devenant femme artiste au fur et à mesure du récit, tant et si bien que j'ai l'impression d'avoir vécu en Islande.
C'est une grande histoire humaine intimement liée à la nature, cette nature dure, violente et impitoyable de l'Islande. De nombreux personnages se croisent, et les sentiments sont à la fois si intenses et si simples, si humains qu'on les ressent au plus profond de soi. Les Islandais du récit sont à l'image de leur pays, passionnés sous des dehors robustes et indestructibles.
Karitas traverse de nombreuses épreuves, fait face à la perte, aux doutes, à la solitude, aux joies, à l'amour ... Et on vit avec elle, tout en partageant sa magnifique vision du monde à travers ses yeux d'artiste.
Il est clair que je lirai le tome 2 avec bonheur, merci à Exploratology pour cette découverte !
C'est une grande histoire humaine intimement liée à la nature, cette nature dure, violente et impitoyable de l'Islande. De nombreux personnages se croisent, et les sentiments sont à la fois si intenses et si simples, si humains qu'on les ressent au plus profond de soi. Les Islandais du récit sont à l'image de leur pays, passionnés sous des dehors robustes et indestructibles.
Karitas traverse de nombreuses épreuves, fait face à la perte, aux doutes, à la solitude, aux joies, à l'amour ... Et on vit avec elle, tout en partageant sa magnifique vision du monde à travers ses yeux d'artiste.
Il est clair que je lirai le tome 2 avec bonheur, merci à Exploratology pour cette découverte !
January 15, 2025
Vá vá vá! Kláraði loksins þessa löngu og góðu bók og hlakka til að lesa næstu. Ég elska kvenorkuna í þessari bók og hæga tempóið. Karitas er frábær karakter; listakona sem enginn skilur til fulls og hún brýst út úr norminu á mjög áhrifaríkan hátt. Bókin er svo fallega skrifuð og myndlistarlýsingarnar eru magnaðar! Náttúran er alltaf nærri og tíðarandinn er mjög heillandi. Sagan gerist í upphafi 20. aldar, og það er í raun ekki fyrir svo löngu, en VÁ hvað heimurinn hefur breyst mikið.
November 17, 2023
Absolutely beautiful story of early 20th century life in northern Iceland. Will seek more of Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir’s writing. Loved.
4.5 ⭐️
4.5 ⭐️
March 9, 2022
I enjoyed this book so much.
Completely immersive I felt as if I was there in Iceland with Karitas. Vivid descriptions of the land, sea and glaciers. Descriptions of how life was in the remote parts of Iceland. How they cooked, cleaned, what they ate (blood pudding being just one staple!) and they lived a simple but physically demanding life.
The book is split into three sections, the initial section beginning in 1915 and the final section ending in 1939, and follows the lives of Karitas and her 5 siblings who are living with their mother. Their father died whilst out fishing. Their mother has a difficult life bringing up her 6 children with very little money. Working the land and then knitting clothes to sell to raise money.
Schooling is difficult to come by but the mother wants her children to have an education so travels north by boat on a very difficult passage, arriving to find she has no accommodation so has to live in the attic of a fish warehouse. The girls find work doing menial jobs such as laundry and cleaning fish which makes painful hands, but they don’t complain. Then the strong willed Karitas manages to find them a small house.
Then a life changing meeting happens for Karitas when she is summoned to the home of a wealth female artist Madam Eugenía. It is virtually unheard of for a woman to be an artist in those times.
Madam Eugenía has seen some of Karitas work and arranges for her to go to The Royal Academy of fine arts in Copenhagen and has guaranteed her room and board for five years.
I won’t go into the storyline in detail but the rest of the book, parts 2 and 3, follow Karitas in later stages of her life through marriage and having children.
The author also weaves in some Icelandic folklore about elf people.
This was quite a long read but I didn’t want it to end!
Completely immersive I felt as if I was there in Iceland with Karitas. Vivid descriptions of the land, sea and glaciers. Descriptions of how life was in the remote parts of Iceland. How they cooked, cleaned, what they ate (blood pudding being just one staple!) and they lived a simple but physically demanding life.
The book is split into three sections, the initial section beginning in 1915 and the final section ending in 1939, and follows the lives of Karitas and her 5 siblings who are living with their mother. Their father died whilst out fishing. Their mother has a difficult life bringing up her 6 children with very little money. Working the land and then knitting clothes to sell to raise money.
Schooling is difficult to come by but the mother wants her children to have an education so travels north by boat on a very difficult passage, arriving to find she has no accommodation so has to live in the attic of a fish warehouse. The girls find work doing menial jobs such as laundry and cleaning fish which makes painful hands, but they don’t complain. Then the strong willed Karitas manages to find them a small house.
Then a life changing meeting happens for Karitas when she is summoned to the home of a wealth female artist Madam Eugenía. It is virtually unheard of for a woman to be an artist in those times.
Madam Eugenía has seen some of Karitas work and arranges for her to go to The Royal Academy of fine arts in Copenhagen and has guaranteed her room and board for five years.
I won’t go into the storyline in detail but the rest of the book, parts 2 and 3, follow Karitas in later stages of her life through marriage and having children.
The author also weaves in some Icelandic folklore about elf people.
This was quite a long read but I didn’t want it to end!
January 13, 2016
En m'abonnant à la box Exploratology, j'ai voulu découvrir des livres que jamais je n'aurais pu lire de moi-même. Et c'est exactement le cas avec Karitas, l'esquisse d'un rêve.
Bien sûr on peut être déçu en procédant comme ça, mais on peut faire de bonnes découvertes également et je considère que, dans tous les cas, qu'on ait aimé ou pas un livre, il nous enrichi forcément.
Pour Karitas, je suis à mi-chemin en fonction des parties du livre. Son parcours est loin d'être facile et cela m'a parfois révolté, parfois charmé, parfois étonné, et très souvent rendu triste. Même s'il s'agit d'un autre pays, d'une autre façon de vivre et d'une autre époque, tout n'est pas évident et malgré le fond profondément féministe de Karitas, elle a aussi une grande part d'abnégation et rien n'est évident.
On parle beaucoup de l'art, de son art, mais sans vraiment en parler, le thème n'est jamais approfondi et je n'ai pas toujours été sensible aux passages dessus alors que je m'attendais à voir des dessins ou avoir des descriptions peut-être un peu plus poussées. Au final on attend jusqu'au bout le dénouement mais...
J'ai adoré la partie centrale du livre, même si elle m'a rendu parfois triste. Et j'ai été totalement énervée en fin de livre, même si je comprends son désir profond. C'est difficile de s'identifier à un personnage alors que l'on n'aurait pas forcément pris les mêmes décisions, mais, finalement, est-ce qu'on doit s'y identifier ?
Même si ce livre n'a pas été un coup de coeur, et que je ne lirais pas forcément la suite, je l'ai trouvé joli et très touchant et ne regrette pas de m'y être plongé.
Bien sûr on peut être déçu en procédant comme ça, mais on peut faire de bonnes découvertes également et je considère que, dans tous les cas, qu'on ait aimé ou pas un livre, il nous enrichi forcément.
Pour Karitas, je suis à mi-chemin en fonction des parties du livre. Son parcours est loin d'être facile et cela m'a parfois révolté, parfois charmé, parfois étonné, et très souvent rendu triste. Même s'il s'agit d'un autre pays, d'une autre façon de vivre et d'une autre époque, tout n'est pas évident et malgré le fond profondément féministe de Karitas, elle a aussi une grande part d'abnégation et rien n'est évident.
On parle beaucoup de l'art, de son art, mais sans vraiment en parler, le thème n'est jamais approfondi et je n'ai pas toujours été sensible aux passages dessus alors que je m'attendais à voir des dessins ou avoir des descriptions peut-être un peu plus poussées. Au final on attend jusqu'au bout le dénouement mais...
J'ai adoré la partie centrale du livre, même si elle m'a rendu parfois triste. Et j'ai été totalement énervée en fin de livre, même si je comprends son désir profond. C'est difficile de s'identifier à un personnage alors que l'on n'aurait pas forcément pris les mêmes décisions, mais, finalement, est-ce qu'on doit s'y identifier ?
Même si ce livre n'a pas été un coup de coeur, et que je ne lirais pas forcément la suite, je l'ai trouvé joli et très touchant et ne regrette pas de m'y être plongé.
June 2, 2024
It isn't often that I get very excited about a book but I want to recommend Karitas Untitled ny Kristin Marja Baldursdottir. This is certainly going on my all time favourites. It is a wonderfully written and often moving book.
Set in Iceland in the first 40 years of the 20C it is a beautiful exploration of life in Iceland, the people who live in hardship and the natural world. The characters are beautifully drawn and Karitas, who we meet as a child and follow through life until her mid 40s, is so three dimensional that I felt I knew her. Relationships and emotions are subtly explored and there are moments of sheer genius in the book. A scene in the second half where Karitas (reluctantly) summits the highest peak in Iceland, taken there by the matriarch of the family where she is staying, will stay with me for a very long time. Breathtaking in its range and depth.
Read this book. I don't believe you'll be disappointed
I am searching for other books in (English) translation by the author but can't find any. If anyone knows of one please do let me know.
Set in Iceland in the first 40 years of the 20C it is a beautiful exploration of life in Iceland, the people who live in hardship and the natural world. The characters are beautifully drawn and Karitas, who we meet as a child and follow through life until her mid 40s, is so three dimensional that I felt I knew her. Relationships and emotions are subtly explored and there are moments of sheer genius in the book. A scene in the second half where Karitas (reluctantly) summits the highest peak in Iceland, taken there by the matriarch of the family where she is staying, will stay with me for a very long time. Breathtaking in its range and depth.
Read this book. I don't believe you'll be disappointed
I am searching for other books in (English) translation by the author but can't find any. If anyone knows of one please do let me know.
June 19, 2016
Wow...
So, I will quickly sum up my most important thoughts about this newly discovered treasure.
Straight away, just to be honest, I dare mention one negative point about the book and that is that I found the first third of the book quite slow-moving and hard to get in the whole story. Probably that is why I read the book whole three months which is unusually slowly for me. It took me quite a while until I realized that it is the early life of an almost-professional female artist described here. That's the only minus in my opinion. Then it eventually became really exciting and I found myself empathizing with the characters and trying to imagine them in my mind. (Careful, spoiler:) It was around the time when the sisters gradually left the house and went studying, and when Halldóra came back home very sick and Karítas left for her art studies in Denmark. (End of spoilers.)
I really enjoyed the passages at the beginning of each chapter, which are literary descriptions of Karítas' works of art, a kind of impressions. They are written in a very different, more picturesque way than the chapters themselves, probably these are also the parts of the book where the words are even more well chosen than in the rest of the book. The chapters are written in a more classical way, the narrative kind of way you find in other novels too.
What I also loved is the mass of new knowledge gained about Iceland, Icelandic culture and Icelandic history. That is what I'm also actively seeking for since I visited the island a year ago and am totally captivated by its nature, culture, history and people's way of living. Since then I'm seeking for everything I can about this country. It's also interesting to read about the situation of women in the 20th century, in this book especially in Iceland (but also Denmark, for example). And I recently started to learn some Icelandic as well, for the language is very fascinating with its historical richness, development and culture and gives a lot of knowledge about people's way of living as well.
Although I get the point why some people might say that Karítas is a weak character because of her sometimes naive way of acting in several situations and thinking, I dare say that I noticed it too but surprisingly it almost didn't annoy me at all. It's funny because I found lots of her features inside my own personality as well. I noticed myself realizing several times "Oh yes, I totally understand her, I'd probably act the same way" and at the same time as well that it's actually frightening because she's not acting in an appropriate way to fit into society. She'd always stay the female artist (spoilers!) who studied art at the Royal Academy of Arts in Copenhagen (end of spoilers), always remain special, not part of ordinary people, regardless of how hard she'd try to be that, always struggling for acceptance and affiliation.
The book made me reflect on myself and my life and I noticed myself doing that several times even while not reading, during everyday life.
And for me, that is what literature is about, to make you reflect on your own life and personality with the help of fictional characters.
Now that I'm kinda 'living' in this world of 20th century Iceland and got an insight into Karítas' life, I will definitely also read the second and last part of the series sometime. Looking forward to it already.
Anyway. Part 1: recommended!
So, I will quickly sum up my most important thoughts about this newly discovered treasure.
Straight away, just to be honest, I dare mention one negative point about the book and that is that I found the first third of the book quite slow-moving and hard to get in the whole story. Probably that is why I read the book whole three months which is unusually slowly for me. It took me quite a while until I realized that it is the early life of an almost-professional female artist described here. That's the only minus in my opinion. Then it eventually became really exciting and I found myself empathizing with the characters and trying to imagine them in my mind. (Careful, spoiler:) It was around the time when the sisters gradually left the house and went studying, and when Halldóra came back home very sick and Karítas left for her art studies in Denmark. (End of spoilers.)
I really enjoyed the passages at the beginning of each chapter, which are literary descriptions of Karítas' works of art, a kind of impressions. They are written in a very different, more picturesque way than the chapters themselves, probably these are also the parts of the book where the words are even more well chosen than in the rest of the book. The chapters are written in a more classical way, the narrative kind of way you find in other novels too.
What I also loved is the mass of new knowledge gained about Iceland, Icelandic culture and Icelandic history. That is what I'm also actively seeking for since I visited the island a year ago and am totally captivated by its nature, culture, history and people's way of living. Since then I'm seeking for everything I can about this country. It's also interesting to read about the situation of women in the 20th century, in this book especially in Iceland (but also Denmark, for example). And I recently started to learn some Icelandic as well, for the language is very fascinating with its historical richness, development and culture and gives a lot of knowledge about people's way of living as well.
Although I get the point why some people might say that Karítas is a weak character because of her sometimes naive way of acting in several situations and thinking, I dare say that I noticed it too but surprisingly it almost didn't annoy me at all. It's funny because I found lots of her features inside my own personality as well. I noticed myself realizing several times "Oh yes, I totally understand her, I'd probably act the same way" and at the same time as well that it's actually frightening because she's not acting in an appropriate way to fit into society. She'd always stay the female artist (spoilers!) who studied art at the Royal Academy of Arts in Copenhagen (end of spoilers), always remain special, not part of ordinary people, regardless of how hard she'd try to be that, always struggling for acceptance and affiliation.
The book made me reflect on myself and my life and I noticed myself doing that several times even while not reading, during everyday life.
And for me, that is what literature is about, to make you reflect on your own life and personality with the help of fictional characters.
Now that I'm kinda 'living' in this world of 20th century Iceland and got an insight into Karítas' life, I will definitely also read the second and last part of the series sometime. Looking forward to it already.
Anyway. Part 1: recommended!
January 12, 2016
I didn't read it in Danish, let alone Icelandic, obviously, but in French, but couldn't find the French edition listed here "Karitas, L'esquisse d'un rêve". Very very slow going at first, I only really got into it past page 300 or so, but then I was really in it in an extraordinary way, I could see the landscapes, the people, the situations so much more vividly than with most contemporary novels; I really felt the slowness was part of getting to know a culture, and above all a remarkable woman, a simple Icelandic girl who struggles against tradition to become an artist in the 1920s. Pity it is not available in English. Looking forward to the next 600 pages, "Karitas, l'art de la vie".
May 8, 2014
A great women's novel and a book to get acquainted with the culture and landscape of Iceland. The most amazing thing is the language of the author, precise and poetic.The characters are well elaborated, are very realistic.
November 8, 2022
Góð. Mjög góð. Ég held að í uppáhaldi hjá mér hafi verið að fá innsýn í tíðarandann, kveikti á alls konar pælingum um Ísland á árum áður, stöðu kvenna í samfélaginu o.fl. Ég var ekkert alltof hrifin af því þegar höfundur stökk yfir löng tímabil og fannst stundum aðeins vanta upp framkvæmdina á því. Karakterarnir magnaðir en tek af eina stjörnu af því að söguþráðurinn greip mig ekki alveg.
June 5, 2024
Svoooo góð. Ég les sjaldan bækur sem eiga að gerast á Íslandi í gamladaga því finnst þær alltaf svo fullar af volæði. En þessi var ekki þannig. Eina sem ég var ekki ánægð með var hvað Karítas er úrræðagóður unglingur en svo þegar hún er fullorðin verður hún svo ósjálfbjarga. Átta mig ekki á þeirri persónuleikabreytingu. Kannski einhver symbolismi sem ég er of vitlaus til að fatta.
November 16, 2025
Novela islandesa llena de nombres impronunciables y supersticiones que no he llegado a entender.
En sí, la historia no está mal: el recorrido vital de Karitas, una niña que sueña con ser artista, visto a través de sus dibujos.
Sí, la historia no está mal, pero está tan llena de cultura y superchería islandesa, que no la he acabado de entender.
📖❤️
En sí, la historia no está mal: el recorrido vital de Karitas, una niña que sueña con ser artista, visto a través de sus dibujos.
Sí, la historia no está mal, pero está tan llena de cultura y superchería islandesa, que no la he acabado de entender.
📖❤️
January 11, 2026
The main character is deeply complex yet sympathetic. I enjoy how the natural world is featured prominently in this novel - the cold climate, seas, mountains, glaciers, animals - and how they are integrated seamlessly into Karitas's development.
March 4, 2022
‘Aren’t all fishermen’s wives in this country alone with their children and households?” The words “fishermen’s wives” got on her nerves. She was an artist.’
Growing up in early twentieth century Iceland as one of six children Karitas Jónsdóttir yearns to be set free from the life she leads, she wants to break free from convention, she’s wants chaos, she wants to be an artist. But being a dutiful daughter, then a mother and a fisherman’s wife she is continually held back by fate and by the expectations of her as a woman.
Karitas Untitled Spans decades and is breathtaking in complexity and scope. It is a story that is often as bleak and brutal as the Icelandic landscape. Something that’s emphasised by Karitas’ mothers description of her birth,
‘I was down at the beach gathering seaweed when the contractions began. From my previous experience, I knew how things would go, so I went behind a big rock where I would have sand beneath my feet, but as I was delivering, the tide began coming in, and it was only by the grace of God that the child wasn’t swept away.’
Bringing a child into this world is daunting but once it arrives raising it can be just as hard,
‘The town’s shortage of milk had become a matter of concern to thinking people, and women had begun to suckle their infants well into their second year to avoid having to stuff them with potatoes and salty food, which their sensitive digestive systems handled badly.’
Karitas Untitled is a brilliant portrayal of the role of women in Iceland in the early 1900’s, it’s a story about their struggles, dreams and the life decisions they have to make. These women shine through in Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir’s novel and the thing that strikes you most is their sense of togetherness, the faith they have in each other and themselves. Although these women offer Karitas support and protection, she comes to resent it at times, she feels trapped by it. Her attitude towards marriage and men don’t fit into what is expected of her either, Hildigunnur tells her ‘Women belong in a man’s arms; alone, they can never be happy for long.” Karitas replied, “What utter nonsense.’
When she eventually succumbs and does what is expected of her by marrying she finds her husband is away for months on end fishing for cod and herring, returning only to impregnate her and play with her emotions.
‘It irritated her that just when she’d considered herself free from the yoke of men’s insatiable amorous desires, which resulted only in hungry mouths to feed and sleepless nights, just when she’d felt safe between the sandy wastes and great rivers, she should be subject to attack from within.’
Karitas Untitled is a beautiful book. At times it reads like poetry. It is written from both first person and third person points of view. It’s a book full of well drawn strong characters, it’s a story of love, family, nature and art. It’s also a story full of life. It starts off so inconspicuously with a maid uttering the line “Take this child from me. I’m about to lose my wits,’ because she’s lost a knitting needle. In Karitas Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir has created one of my favourite characters in literature, she is up there with Tess of the d'Urbervilles as one of the strongest female literary characters. I have to admit I didn’t expect much from Karitas Untitled, I chose it because it was free as one of Amazon’s First Reads, it turned out to be a hidden gem.
Growing up in early twentieth century Iceland as one of six children Karitas Jónsdóttir yearns to be set free from the life she leads, she wants to break free from convention, she’s wants chaos, she wants to be an artist. But being a dutiful daughter, then a mother and a fisherman’s wife she is continually held back by fate and by the expectations of her as a woman.
Karitas Untitled Spans decades and is breathtaking in complexity and scope. It is a story that is often as bleak and brutal as the Icelandic landscape. Something that’s emphasised by Karitas’ mothers description of her birth,
‘I was down at the beach gathering seaweed when the contractions began. From my previous experience, I knew how things would go, so I went behind a big rock where I would have sand beneath my feet, but as I was delivering, the tide began coming in, and it was only by the grace of God that the child wasn’t swept away.’
Bringing a child into this world is daunting but once it arrives raising it can be just as hard,
‘The town’s shortage of milk had become a matter of concern to thinking people, and women had begun to suckle their infants well into their second year to avoid having to stuff them with potatoes and salty food, which their sensitive digestive systems handled badly.’
Karitas Untitled is a brilliant portrayal of the role of women in Iceland in the early 1900’s, it’s a story about their struggles, dreams and the life decisions they have to make. These women shine through in Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir’s novel and the thing that strikes you most is their sense of togetherness, the faith they have in each other and themselves. Although these women offer Karitas support and protection, she comes to resent it at times, she feels trapped by it. Her attitude towards marriage and men don’t fit into what is expected of her either, Hildigunnur tells her ‘Women belong in a man’s arms; alone, they can never be happy for long.” Karitas replied, “What utter nonsense.’
When she eventually succumbs and does what is expected of her by marrying she finds her husband is away for months on end fishing for cod and herring, returning only to impregnate her and play with her emotions.
‘It irritated her that just when she’d considered herself free from the yoke of men’s insatiable amorous desires, which resulted only in hungry mouths to feed and sleepless nights, just when she’d felt safe between the sandy wastes and great rivers, she should be subject to attack from within.’
Karitas Untitled is a beautiful book. At times it reads like poetry. It is written from both first person and third person points of view. It’s a book full of well drawn strong characters, it’s a story of love, family, nature and art. It’s also a story full of life. It starts off so inconspicuously with a maid uttering the line “Take this child from me. I’m about to lose my wits,’ because she’s lost a knitting needle. In Karitas Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir has created one of my favourite characters in literature, she is up there with Tess of the d'Urbervilles as one of the strongest female literary characters. I have to admit I didn’t expect much from Karitas Untitled, I chose it because it was free as one of Amazon’s First Reads, it turned out to be a hidden gem.
December 17, 2015
"L'esquisse d'un rêve" est le récit de la vie d'une Islandaise, Karitas, de son enfance à celles de sa progéniture.
Karitas rêve d'être peintre. Rien ne semble se goupiller pour que ça arrive. Au début du siècle, les envies des femmes ne sont pas ce que l'on peut appeler une priorité. Mais Karitas a une mère bien particulière, une de ses femmes qui traverse l'Islande afin d'envoyer à l'école ses six enfants, une mère qui lui rappelle sans cesse par sa façon d'être que "tout est possible". La jeune Islandaise fait la rencontre d'une bienfaitrice, qui, attachée aux arts, prendra en charge Karitas et lui permettra d'intégrer l'Académie des Beaux Arts de Copenhague.
Quand j'ai décidé de tenter ma chance avec Exploratology (box livres), mon but était de sortir des sentiers battus. Une chose est sure : "L'esquisse d'un rêve" est un livre vers lequel je ne serais pas du tout allée de moi même : Objectif atteint !
Le souci quand on lit un livre vers lequel on ne se serait pas tourné naturellement, c'est que l'on peut être très agréablement surpris ou à l'inverse, ne pas du tout apprécier le récit.
Pour "L'esquisse d'un rêve", je suis à mi-chemin entre ces deux états. Sans pouvoir parler d'un coup de coeur particulier, je ne peux pas non plus dire que je n'ai pas aimé.
J'ai aimé découvrir la vie des Islandais au début des années 1900 - les traditions et les règles qui régissent cette population. Les femmes sont au service des hommes tout en leur permettant d'être au premier plan. Elles gèrent d'un main de maître les travaux ménagers, insufflant à leurs foyers le rang qu'elles convoitent.
J'ai aimé le caractère de Karitas, tantôt déterminée tantôt essouflée, solitaire et à la fois, manquant cruellement de son entourage. J'ai adoré son côté féministe (Oui bon, on ne parle pas de féminisme à la fémen hin!) et libre. Replacée dans son contexte, elle est une de ces femmes modernes, attachées à leurs habitudes et à la fois, désireuses de voir plus loin.
La déception réside plutôt du côté du récit en lui même : Malgré la 4ème de couv, l'auteur ne parle pas réellement de la vie d'artiste de Karitas (vie plutôt inexistante d'ailleurs). Son art passe complétement au second plan vis à vis de son quotidien, et c'est dommage. Ses 5 années à Copenhague sont passées sous silence dans une énorme ellipse narrative, et c'est hyper frustrant. Certains passages sont hypers longs par contre. Il y a comme une espèce de déséquilibre : des éléments importants passés sous silence, et d'autres passages insignifiants développés sur des pages et des pages...
Lecture en demi teinte, donc. Mais je pense que ça vient du fait que mon intérêt pour le livre résidait complétement dans l'art qui pouvait s'en dégager. C'est un sujet qui me tient à coeur, que je n'ai finalement pas vraiment retrouvé au sein de ces pages.
Karitas rêve d'être peintre. Rien ne semble se goupiller pour que ça arrive. Au début du siècle, les envies des femmes ne sont pas ce que l'on peut appeler une priorité. Mais Karitas a une mère bien particulière, une de ses femmes qui traverse l'Islande afin d'envoyer à l'école ses six enfants, une mère qui lui rappelle sans cesse par sa façon d'être que "tout est possible". La jeune Islandaise fait la rencontre d'une bienfaitrice, qui, attachée aux arts, prendra en charge Karitas et lui permettra d'intégrer l'Académie des Beaux Arts de Copenhague.
Quand j'ai décidé de tenter ma chance avec Exploratology (box livres), mon but était de sortir des sentiers battus. Une chose est sure : "L'esquisse d'un rêve" est un livre vers lequel je ne serais pas du tout allée de moi même : Objectif atteint !
Le souci quand on lit un livre vers lequel on ne se serait pas tourné naturellement, c'est que l'on peut être très agréablement surpris ou à l'inverse, ne pas du tout apprécier le récit.
Pour "L'esquisse d'un rêve", je suis à mi-chemin entre ces deux états. Sans pouvoir parler d'un coup de coeur particulier, je ne peux pas non plus dire que je n'ai pas aimé.
J'ai aimé découvrir la vie des Islandais au début des années 1900 - les traditions et les règles qui régissent cette population. Les femmes sont au service des hommes tout en leur permettant d'être au premier plan. Elles gèrent d'un main de maître les travaux ménagers, insufflant à leurs foyers le rang qu'elles convoitent.
J'ai aimé le caractère de Karitas, tantôt déterminée tantôt essouflée, solitaire et à la fois, manquant cruellement de son entourage. J'ai adoré son côté féministe (Oui bon, on ne parle pas de féminisme à la fémen hin!) et libre. Replacée dans son contexte, elle est une de ces femmes modernes, attachées à leurs habitudes et à la fois, désireuses de voir plus loin.
La déception réside plutôt du côté du récit en lui même : Malgré la 4ème de couv, l'auteur ne parle pas réellement de la vie d'artiste de Karitas (vie plutôt inexistante d'ailleurs). Son art passe complétement au second plan vis à vis de son quotidien, et c'est dommage. Ses 5 années à Copenhague sont passées sous silence dans une énorme ellipse narrative, et c'est hyper frustrant. Certains passages sont hypers longs par contre. Il y a comme une espèce de déséquilibre : des éléments importants passés sous silence, et d'autres passages insignifiants développés sur des pages et des pages...
Lecture en demi teinte, donc. Mais je pense que ça vient du fait que mon intérêt pour le livre résidait complétement dans l'art qui pouvait s'en dégager. C'est un sujet qui me tient à coeur, que je n'ai finalement pas vraiment retrouvé au sein de ces pages.
March 4, 2011
Frauenschmöker
Karitas wächst im ersten Drittel des 20. Jahrhunderts in Island auf. Vater verstorben....Mutter muss 6 Kinder durchbringen.... Das Leben ist hart und karg und die Familie tapfer - nicht neu.
In Karitas schlummert eine Künstlerin, die mal mehr, mal weniger an die Oberfläche drängt.
Dann gibt es den unbeschreiblich schönen Mann (natürlich) und das Leben selbst, das die Eismalerin von ihrer Atelierarbeit abhält. Elfen sind in Island obligat - hier auch.....
Das Buch beginnt gar nicht mal so schlecht - als Kind ist Karitas tüchtig (welch Wort) und trägt erheblich zum Überleben der Familie bei. Danach trifft sie kaum Entscheidungen und lässt sich ständig von Anderen bestimmen.....
Die weiblichen Figuren sind mal mehr, mal weniger gut ausgefeilt - sämtliche männliche Figuren kaum (ausser dieser schöne Isländer ...na ja).
Sprachlich okay, aber nicht gut, ist dieser Schmöker angenehm zu lesen, überrascht aber mit gar nichts.
Das Buch hat nichts mit mir gemacht, mich nicht bereichert, klüger gemacht und nicht einmal durchgängig gut unterhalten; das ist meine mindeste Erwartung an einen Schmöker. Ein Buch wie viele andere ohne besonderen Anspruch oder Unterhaltungswert.
Karitas wächst im ersten Drittel des 20. Jahrhunderts in Island auf. Vater verstorben....Mutter muss 6 Kinder durchbringen.... Das Leben ist hart und karg und die Familie tapfer - nicht neu.
In Karitas schlummert eine Künstlerin, die mal mehr, mal weniger an die Oberfläche drängt.
Dann gibt es den unbeschreiblich schönen Mann (natürlich) und das Leben selbst, das die Eismalerin von ihrer Atelierarbeit abhält. Elfen sind in Island obligat - hier auch.....
Das Buch beginnt gar nicht mal so schlecht - als Kind ist Karitas tüchtig (welch Wort) und trägt erheblich zum Überleben der Familie bei. Danach trifft sie kaum Entscheidungen und lässt sich ständig von Anderen bestimmen.....
Die weiblichen Figuren sind mal mehr, mal weniger gut ausgefeilt - sämtliche männliche Figuren kaum (ausser dieser schöne Isländer ...na ja).
Sprachlich okay, aber nicht gut, ist dieser Schmöker angenehm zu lesen, überrascht aber mit gar nichts.
Das Buch hat nichts mit mir gemacht, mich nicht bereichert, klüger gemacht und nicht einmal durchgängig gut unterhalten; das ist meine mindeste Erwartung an einen Schmöker. Ein Buch wie viele andere ohne besonderen Anspruch oder Unterhaltungswert.
March 29, 2022
Karitas Untitled started well. I liked the premise, and Karitas was an interesting character. The family drama was compelling, the descriptions of life in rural Iceland vivid. However, the final third of the book fell a bit flat for me. I began to lose interest in Karitas' life and struggles and found myself waiting for the end during the final 100 pages. If you are looking for family drama and a book with great depictions of rural life (such as salting herring), Karitas Untitled is worth a read, but personally, it didn't quite live up to my expectations and its early promise. I believe there is a second volume in this series, of which I assume an English translation will be released in due course, but I don't see myself rushing out to buy it. This was, overall all, a middle-of the-road read for me, and I will give it 3 stars. While I was fully immersed all the way through, the descriptive writing was beautiful.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
December 14, 2020
Mon livre préféré de 2020! Les deux volumes! J’ai suivi avec délice Karitas dans ce paysage extraordinaire de l’Islande et de l’Europe du vingtième siècle. Quelle personnage extraordinaire, son idéalisme , sa résilience! Suivre son propre chemin coûte que coûte, même lorsqu’on avance en aveugle!
J’ai fermé le livre avec regret mais ne suis pas prête de l’oublier...
J’ai fermé le livre avec regret mais ne suis pas prête de l’oublier...
January 11, 2019
Falleg, erfið, spennandi, dramatísk og skemmtileg. Mjög vel skrifuð og greinilega mikil vinna að baki enda lýsingarnar einstakar. Þessi sagar gerist bara tveim kynslóðum frá manni þannig að hún stendur manni nærri. Frábær bók og hlakka til að lesa framhaldið.
February 12, 2022
I envy the translator who was able to read this wonderful story in its original language. The descriptions of the Icelandic people and their life in the first part of the last century as we followed the story of a budding artist was truly inspiring. I couldn’t put this book down.
October 7, 2016
mögnuð bok allir að lesa. islensk sveitadramatik sem litaði sumarið mitt rómantískum þjóðernisblæ, gott að lesa út á landi
April 24, 2025
Set in the wild remote locations of Iceland this story spans 20 years between World Wars. It begins in the Westfjords when Karitas’ mother becomes widowed and decides to move her children in order to be able to gather enough funds to educate each of her six children. They relocate in Akyreyi and all begin to work for money except Karitas who managed the home so that they can. The years go by and one by one the children fledge as we get to know them (and like most of them). Karitas is noticed by a wealthy woman who is an artist and who begins not only to mentor her but send her to a prestigious art school in Denmark just when it seems her mother will not, finally, provide for her education. Karitas returns home to various forms of acceptance and criticism from her siblings. The remainder of the book is about her journey to become a recognized artist. Although we never “see” any of her work, there are descriptions and nearly everyone who does see it comments how she will be a great artist, even her husband. The most interesting thing about the book is how people lived then in these remote and primitive portions of Iceland and also a bit of insight into the people and how they lived and interacted and treated each other. Well worth reading even if you aren’t planning a trip to Iceland!
December 18, 2022
Karitas wächst zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts in einfachen Verhältnissen in Island auf. Der Vater, ein Fischer, ist auf See geblieben, die Mutter zieht die sechs Kinder alleine groß und beschließt eines Tages, an die Küste zu ziehen, um sich dort eine neue Existenz aufzubauen. Die Kinder, sofern alt genug, müssen mithelfen, Geld zu verdienen. Die älteren Schwestern schuften in der Fischverarbeitung, während Karitas zu Hause die Jüngsten hütet und, wann immer sie Möglichkeit hat, ihrer Leidenschaft frönt, dem Zeichnen und Malen.
Obwohl es unter ihresgleichen eher als nutzlose Spielerei gilt, bleibt Karitas' Talent bleibt nicht verborgen, und schließlich wird sie von einer wohlhabenden Dameentdeckt und gefördert. In ihrem Umfeld stößt das eher auf Unverständnis, und als sie selbst einen gutaussehenden Fischer heiratet, der den Großteil der Zeit unterwegs ist, findet sie sich in einem großen Zwiespalt wider zwischen dem, was Gesellschaft und Traditionen von ihr erwarten und dem, was sie selbst wirklich möchte (und am allerbesten kann).
Manchmal tut es schon fast weh, Karitas' Geschichte zu lesen, angefangen bei den schon fast schmerzhaft ärmlichen Lebensumständen und dem Mangel an vielem, was wir heute als selbstverständlich erachten. Und Karitas ist anders als die anderen, sie sehnt sich nach Schönem, Ungewöhnlichem, Mutigem und nach Anerkennung, doch ihre Kunst ist selbst den Menschen, die sie am liebsten hat, fremd und fern. Manchmal kann sie selbst auch schwierig und spröde sein, steht sich selbst im Weg und macht es sich schwerer, als es sein müsste.
Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir malt in wunderbaren Sprachbildern das Porträt einer außergewöhnlichen Frau, die in die falsche Zeit und den falschen Ort hineingeboren zu sein scheint und es nur selten schafft, aus dem Korsett der Umstände auszubrechen. Die Nebenfiguren wie auch die geographischen und historischen Hintergründe sind mit feinem Pinsel großartig gezeichnet, so dass man sich mit allen Sinnen in das karge Island jener Zeit versetzt fühlt. Die Bräuche, der herrschende Aberglaube, die harte Arbeit, die von den Jahreszeiten bestimmt wird, all das steht in scharfem Kontrast zu Karitas' modernen Kunstwerken, die immer wieder detailreich und stimmungsvoll beschrieben werden.
Einen recht großen Zeitsprung nach etwa 2/3 des Buches fand ich ein wenig schade, weil ich Karitas' Weg auch in der Zwischenzeit gerne verfolgt hätte, aber ansonsten hat mich das Buch sehr beeindruckt und mitgerissen, dank seiner ungewöhnlichen Protagonistin, dem nicht alltäglichen Setting und einer wunderschönen Sprache. Hut ab auch vor der Leistung der Übersetzerin Coletta Bürling, die die Sprache auch im Deutschen zu etwas Besonderem gemacht hat.
Obwohl es unter ihresgleichen eher als nutzlose Spielerei gilt, bleibt Karitas' Talent bleibt nicht verborgen, und schließlich wird sie von einer wohlhabenden Dameentdeckt und gefördert. In ihrem Umfeld stößt das eher auf Unverständnis, und als sie selbst einen gutaussehenden Fischer heiratet, der den Großteil der Zeit unterwegs ist, findet sie sich in einem großen Zwiespalt wider zwischen dem, was Gesellschaft und Traditionen von ihr erwarten und dem, was sie selbst wirklich möchte (und am allerbesten kann).
Manchmal tut es schon fast weh, Karitas' Geschichte zu lesen, angefangen bei den schon fast schmerzhaft ärmlichen Lebensumständen und dem Mangel an vielem, was wir heute als selbstverständlich erachten. Und Karitas ist anders als die anderen, sie sehnt sich nach Schönem, Ungewöhnlichem, Mutigem und nach Anerkennung, doch ihre Kunst ist selbst den Menschen, die sie am liebsten hat, fremd und fern. Manchmal kann sie selbst auch schwierig und spröde sein, steht sich selbst im Weg und macht es sich schwerer, als es sein müsste.
Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir malt in wunderbaren Sprachbildern das Porträt einer außergewöhnlichen Frau, die in die falsche Zeit und den falschen Ort hineingeboren zu sein scheint und es nur selten schafft, aus dem Korsett der Umstände auszubrechen. Die Nebenfiguren wie auch die geographischen und historischen Hintergründe sind mit feinem Pinsel großartig gezeichnet, so dass man sich mit allen Sinnen in das karge Island jener Zeit versetzt fühlt. Die Bräuche, der herrschende Aberglaube, die harte Arbeit, die von den Jahreszeiten bestimmt wird, all das steht in scharfem Kontrast zu Karitas' modernen Kunstwerken, die immer wieder detailreich und stimmungsvoll beschrieben werden.
Einen recht großen Zeitsprung nach etwa 2/3 des Buches fand ich ein wenig schade, weil ich Karitas' Weg auch in der Zwischenzeit gerne verfolgt hätte, aber ansonsten hat mich das Buch sehr beeindruckt und mitgerissen, dank seiner ungewöhnlichen Protagonistin, dem nicht alltäglichen Setting und einer wunderschönen Sprache. Hut ab auch vor der Leistung der Übersetzerin Coletta Bürling, die die Sprache auch im Deutschen zu etwas Besonderem gemacht hat.
October 16, 2023
This book is beautifully written and equally well translated into English, depicting rural and coastal life in Iceland in all its harshness, uncertainty and stark beauty.
Women play a much greater role in this book than men, showing their ability to run households and farms while their menfolk are, for the most part, away at sea.
The main character, Karitas, is an accomplished artist, trained at the Royal Academy in Copenhagen thanks to the generosity of a wealthy employer. Yet, when she returns to Iceland, she finds it nearly impossible to be accepted as an artist. Instead, she is expected to behave like all the other women in the area - marriage, children, home.
Her struggles are depicted in great detail and I found the book perhaps slightly too long, dragging slightly in the middle. Nevertheless, it is well worth a read for a view of early 20th-century life in a country that is little-known to outsiders.
Women play a much greater role in this book than men, showing their ability to run households and farms while their menfolk are, for the most part, away at sea.
The main character, Karitas, is an accomplished artist, trained at the Royal Academy in Copenhagen thanks to the generosity of a wealthy employer. Yet, when she returns to Iceland, she finds it nearly impossible to be accepted as an artist. Instead, she is expected to behave like all the other women in the area - marriage, children, home.
Her struggles are depicted in great detail and I found the book perhaps slightly too long, dragging slightly in the middle. Nevertheless, it is well worth a read for a view of early 20th-century life in a country that is little-known to outsiders.
March 19, 2022
4.5 🌟
I love books set in Iceland; in fact, Iceland is on my wishlist of places to visit one day.
Have you ever read a book where the prose is so beautifully descriptive and atmospheric that you feel you could walk right into the book? That's how I felt about this lovely one.
The plot's pace is measured, as life in Iceland in the early 1900s was about hard work and family. This story combines a young woman breaking stereotypical roles with Icelandic folklore, customs, and the beauty of a rugged country. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶.
Thank you to @tlcbooktours and @amazonpublishing for a spot on tour and a gifted copy.
I love books set in Iceland; in fact, Iceland is on my wishlist of places to visit one day.
Have you ever read a book where the prose is so beautifully descriptive and atmospheric that you feel you could walk right into the book? That's how I felt about this lovely one.
The plot's pace is measured, as life in Iceland in the early 1900s was about hard work and family. This story combines a young woman breaking stereotypical roles with Icelandic folklore, customs, and the beauty of a rugged country. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶.
Thank you to @tlcbooktours and @amazonpublishing for a spot on tour and a gifted copy.
November 19, 2023
I loved and savoured every moment of this Icelandic novel set in 1919-1939. Karitas and all of the characters are brilliant. So sad that there’s nothing else by the author, Kristin Maria Baldursdottir, in English!
November 15, 2024
Af einhverjum ástæðum var ég óvenju lengi að komast í gegnum þessa fínu bók. Þetta er falleg saga full af kræsilegu drama og vel skrifuð en kannski tengdi ég bara eitthvað illa við fagurfræði hennar. Það er allavega eitthvað sem truflar mig. Hugsanlega saknaði ég þess að óreiða Karitasar sjálfrar skilaði sér út í prósann - en það kostar bara eina stjörnu. Þegar rykið sest gæti ég munað hana bæði sem betri og síðri (og stjörnur eru hæpinn skáldskapur hvort eð er).
May 8, 2019
Ótrúlega vel skrifuð bók! Sagan er sorgleg og falleg á sama tíma og sogaði mig alveg inn í þennan harkalega heim sem fólk lifði við fyrir 100 árum hérna á Íslandi.
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