Animal Life
In the days leading up to Christmas, Domhildur delivers her 1,922nd baby. Beginnings and endings are her family trade; she comes from a long line of midwives on her mother's side and a long line of undertakers on her father's. She even lives in the apartment that she inherited from her grandaunt, a midwife with a unique reputation for her unconventional methods.
As a terrible storm races towards Reykjavik, Domhildur discovers decades worth of letters and manuscripts hidden amongst her grandaunt's clutter. Fielding calls from her anxious meteorologist sister and visits from her curious new neighbour, Domhildur escapes into her grandaunt's archive and discovers strange and beautiful reflections on birth, death and human nature.
For even in the depths of an Icelandic winter, new life will find a way.
Audur Ava Olafsdottir is a prize-winning novelist, playwright and poet. Audur Ava's novels have been translated into over 25 languages, and they include Butterflies in November, Hotel Silence and Miss Iceland, also published by Pushkin Press. Hotel Silence won the Nordic Council Literature Prize, the Icelandic Literary Prize, and was chosen Best Icelandic Novel in 2016 by the booksellers in Iceland. Miss Iceland won the Prix Medicis Etranger and the Icelandic Booksellers Prize. Audur Ava lives in Reykjavik.
Author: Audur Ava Olafsdottir (Author)
Format: Paperback, 192 pages, 129mm x 198mm
Published: 2022, Pushkin Press, United Kingdom
Genre: General & Literary Fiction
In the days leading up to Christmas, Domhildur delivers her 1,922nd baby. Beginnings and endings are her family trade; she comes from a long line of midwives on her mother's side and a long line of undertakers on her father's. She even lives in the apartment that she inherited from her grandaunt, a midwife with a unique reputation for her unconventional methods.
As a terrible storm races towards Reykjavik, Domhildur discovers decades worth of letters and manuscripts hidden amongst her grandaunt's clutter. Fielding calls from her anxious meteorologist sister and visits from her curious new neighbour, Domhildur escapes into her grandaunt's archive and discovers strange and beautiful reflections on birth, death and human nature.
For even in the depths of an Icelandic winter, new life will find a way.
Audur Ava Olafsdottir is a prize-winning novelist, playwright and poet. Audur Ava's novels have been translated into over 25 languages, and they include Butterflies in November, Hotel Silence and Miss Iceland, also published by Pushkin Press. Hotel Silence won the Nordic Council Literature Prize, the Icelandic Literary Prize, and was chosen Best Icelandic Novel in 2016 by the booksellers in Iceland. Miss Iceland won the Prix Medicis Etranger and the Icelandic Booksellers Prize. Audur Ava lives in Reykjavik.