A Tale of Two Women

A Fist or a Heart

A Novel by
Kristín Eiríksdóttir
Translated by Larissa Kyzer
Amazon Crossing, 2019

Another Icelandic book read during my Covid confinement is the exceedingly melancholy A Fist or a Heart, the story of two Icelandic women: Elín, an elderly prop-maker and Ellen, a nineteen-year-old aspiring playwright who also happens to be the illegitimate daughter of a notable but deceased Icelandic author. Elín takes an interest in young Ellen at the initial table-read of Ellen’s play, Feathers and Sinews, to be performed at the city theatre. Unbeknownst to Ellen, Elín was the person who discovered Ellen’s father’s body when he died on a Reykjavík street some years earlier.

Got that?

That is a lot of baggage to be carried in a book this slim. Elín’s memories start to overwhelm her at the same time that Ellen’s life also starts to disintegrate. The Icelandic locales add to the appeal of the book and the writing is fine; Kyzer’s translation is subtle. Despite its positive attributes, the novel is somewhat diffuse. I read it twice and still felt that I missed the point of it all.


Wednesday: Miss Iceland