“And now comes his justification in the wider sense. He says that perhaps he deserves this for meddling with things that are no concern of his, but the thing is, you’re created with this desire or pleasure, which is also the very strongest influence on you of all the pleasures, or at least, that is how it is with him.”

In Girl With a Belly the author expresses her heartache through the voice of Erla Thordis Jonsdottir. In her account, the dead come alive as a Pandora’s box of forgotten family afflictions and secrets is opened. A High Court judgement, shipwreck, world wars, the effects of syphilis, the everyday life of yesteryear – all are intertwined with poetic ingenuity.

• The Icelandic Women‘s Literature Prize, 2014
• The Icelandic Booksellers’ Prize for the best novel of 2013

“A fascinating story, sparkling with narrative exuberance. The reader is swept up as much in reflections on a shopping list as on a passionate letter. The author traces her family tree using a variety of sources, creating everything around them herself. The reader takes off, leaping effortlessly between centuries and regions.”
FROM THE STATEMENT FROM THE DV CULTURE PRIZE SELECTION COMMITTEE