Woman at 1,000 Degrees

Helgason’s sad and funny novel begins in 2009, as 80-year-old Herra Björnsson lies dying in a Reykavík garage, still in possession of a live hand grenade from World War II. Her limited activities of late include corresponding under a false identity with an Australian bodybuilder, arranging her own cremation, smoking, and recalling her eventful past. Abandoned by her father, Herra passes her first seven years with her mother and maternal grandmother on the Svefneyjar islands. Then her father reclaims his family and moves them to continental Europe, where he becomes one of the few Icelanders to enlist in Hitler’s forces. Herra and her mother take refuge with Herra’s paternal grandmother in Copenhagen but separate when Herra’s mother finds work in Lübeck and Herra is sent to the Frisian Islands. Before heading to the Eastern front, Herra’s father brings his daughter to Hamburg to reunite her with her mother, who never arrives. With- out parents or papers, Herra suffers deprivation and indignity. Years later, as out of place in postwar Iceland as in war-torn Europe, Herra relocates to Argentina before again returning to Iceland. Her life encompasses four husbands, countless lovers, and a flirtation with John Lennon. In her unsentimental, unsparing narrative, she offers insights into Icelandic culture and character, including a riff on reticence and a brief summary of Iceland’s financial meltdown. Like the Icelandic landscape, she can be both appealing and treacherous. (Jan.)