A Fist or a Heart, Kristin Eiriksdottir
A Fist or a Heart, Kristin Eiriksdottir
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A Fist or a Heart

Author: Kristín Eiríksdóttir, Larissa Kyzer

Narrator: Janet Metzger

Unabridged: 4 hr 59 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download (DRM Protected)

Published: 09/24/2019

Synopsis

The past returns with a fury for a woman coming to terms with her life in this award-winning novel by an acclaimed Icelandic author making her English-language debut.Elín Jónsdóttir lives an isolated existence in Reykjavík, Iceland, making props and prosthetics for theatrical productions and Nordic crime flicks. In her early seventies, she has recently become fascinated with another loner, Ellen Álfsdóttir, a sensitive young playwright and illegitimate daughter of a famous writer. The girl has aroused maternal feelings in Elín, but she has also stirred discomfiting memories long packed away. Because their paths have crossed before. One doesn’t remember. The other is about to forget.Soon they’ll discover all they have in common: difficult childhoods, trauma, and being outliers who have found space to breathe in creative expression. Yet the more Elín tries to connect with the young woman and unbox painful memories, the more tenuous her grasp on reality becomes.Winner of the Icelandic Literary Prize, A Fist or a Heart is a gripping, artfully interwoven novel of power, secrets, and isolation by one of the most bracing and original voices of the author’s generation.

About Kristín Eiríksdóttir

Kristín Eiríksdóttir is an award-winning novelist, short story writer, poet, and playwright from Reykjavík, Iceland. Her original edition of A Fist or a Heart won the Icelandic Literary Prize 2017 as well as the Icelandic Women’s Literature Prize 2018, and was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize 2019. The novel took second place for the Icelandic Booksellers’ Prize and was selected as one of the best novels of 2017 by the Icelandic National Radio. Eiríksdóttir has published seven books and had three plays staged. Her short fiction has appeared in Best European Fiction 2011. A Fist or a Heart is her first novel to be translated into English.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader on September 24, 2019

I recently read The Glass Woman, which was set in Iceland, and lamented wanting to read more books set in Iceland. Imagine my surprise when I picked up A Fist or a Heart, now an award-winning novel set in Iceland. Elin Jonsdottir, in her early seventies, is living a lonely life in Reykjavik. She make......more

Goodreads review by Mevsim on January 18, 2023

2023’ün ilk önerisi; Yumruk Yahut Yürek. Kitabın ilk sayfasını okuduğumda anlamıştım onu çok seveceğimi ve sevdiğim ölçüde de ters yüz olacağımı. Soğuk, mesafeli, boşluklu karakterler aracılığıyla, basit hayatın içinden bir mesele, öyle canlı sahnelerle anlatılmış ki, bitirdiğimde hikayenin içinden......more

Goodreads review by Joseph on May 11, 2020

This novel is an insightful psychological study of two lonely and eccentric individuals with a tenuous grip on their sanity. The protagonist and narrator Elín Jónsdóttir, is a theatre and movie prop creator in her late sixties. One of the latest projects in which Elín is involved is the production o......more

Goodreads review by Ken on August 22, 2019

This is the first book that I read by Kristín Eiríksdóttir and I was surprised how much I could relate to what she talked about as Elín or as Ellen in her thoughts of different characters that she developed in her story. These thoughts have also come to me with taking care of my 104 year old father-......more

Goodreads review by Magnús Jochum on March 12, 2020

Hef lesið hana tvisvar áður og núna hlustaði ég á hana í upplestri höfundar. Fyrst þegar ég las hana varð ég fyrir vonbrigðum, fannst hún endasleppt og undarlega samsett. Í annað sinn tók ég eftir alls konar hlutum sem ég hafði ekki séð í fyrsta skiptið. Núna í þriðja sinn finnst mér hún eiginlega m......more

Quotes

“Atmospheric, disorienting…A dreamlike meditation on isolation and the bone-aching desire for companionship.” —Kirkus Reviews“Patience will be rewarded…unexpected connections, both literary and emotional.” —Booklist“Gripping, often surprising…Eiríksdottír’s novel is both intelligent and affecting.” —Publishers Weekly

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