Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir

Publication Date: 1/2/23
Publisher: Amazon Crossing
SYNOPSIS
From Icelandic author Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir comes a heart-wrenching thriller about a woman’s desperate quest to save the people she loves from a natural disaster.
After an eight-hundred-year slumber, the volcanoes in Iceland’s most populated region are showing signs of life. Earthquakes dominate the headlines. Echoes of the devastating eruptions in the past stir unease in the people.
Volcanologist Anna Arnardóttir has spent her entire life studying the volcanic powers under the earth’s crust, but even she cannot fathom the catastrophe at hand.
As a series of eruptions threaten most of Iceland’s population, she’s caught off her rational guard by the most terrible natural disaster of all―love. The world as she knows it is about to fall apart, and so is her heart.
Caught between the safety of a nation and her feelings for her children, her lover, and her past, Anna embarks on a dangerous journey to save the lives of the people she loves―and her soul.

MY REVIEW
What an ending! I was not expecting that at all. Not that I’ll be telling you of course as I never add spoilers to my reviews.
This was quite a unique read for me. Unlike anything I have read before. I guess I would class it as a thriller or perhaps a cli-fi, with many an unexpected turn.
It is told from the point of view of Anna. It seems Anna was destined for a career in earth sciences, becoming a geoscientist working at the Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland and impressively becoming a professor of volcanology. Her father didn’t read her the usual children’s bedtime stories, preferring to read to her from his tomes on geology, astronomy and magnetics.
On what seems like an ordinary morning, Anna, her husband, young daughter and older son are getting up and ready for work and school when a concerning eruption begins under the ocean, creating a substantial ash cloud.
Anna and her colleagues must use all of their knowledge and experience to try to predict what this means for their country. Is it an everyday occurrence, as there are always small eruptions happening all over the country? Or is it something more sinister and requiring alert levels to be raised and people to be evacuated? It is a delicate balance between safety and the economy. They decide to monitor closely.
Amongst the worry of a potential deadly eruption and earthquake Anna finds herself falling head over heels with a photographer. A strange time to be thinking of romance when she is the head volcano expert and should be keeping her head clear.
There are many quotes and snippets included along the way from books, articles, lectures etc explaining the technicalities of volcanos and how complicated and ultimately impossible it is to predict when eruptions will occur.
Overall this was a fabulously addictive book for me with many edge of the seat moments. I was completely absorbed in Anna’s story. Very well written and translated. It has been a huge hit in Iceland where they evidently love to watch the eruptions and try to get as close to the action as they can.
I’m going to need a while before I start reading another book and I know I’m going to remember this book for a long time.
Many thanks indeed to Rhiannon at FMcM for inviting me on to this tour and for the beautiful finished hardback copy of the book.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Icelandic author Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir studied history in Reykjavík and Salamanca and journalism at Columbia University in New York and previously worked in Copenhagen before moving back to Reykjavík, where she lives with her husband, children, and stepchildren. Her bestselling debut, Island (2016), was nominated for the Icelandic Women’s Literature Prize in 2017. When she isn’t writing, Sigríður works as a journalist and television news anchor at the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service. Her highly anticipated third novel, The Fires, is a bestseller and viral hit in Iceland.




















