The dramatic and fascinating story of a young girl who, despite her low social background, manages to study Art at the beginning of the 20th century, at a time when very few women did so. This is the insightful story of a single woman’s destiny and women as a whole – a vivid portrait of their role and lives in the 20th century and a conflict between two powerful forces: love and art.
- The Icelandic Women’s Literature Prize, 2008
- Nominated for the Nordic Council Literary Prize 2005
R E V I E W S
“Baldursdóttir’s brilliance lies in the enigmatic and the implicit.”
LUCIE NOLDEN, WORLD LITERATURE TODAY
“Karitas’s story is graced with precisely all the qualities you would expect to find in a great award winning book.”
KRISTIANSTADSBLADET, SWEDEN
“Keeps you reading with bated breath. Have to know what happens next …A double work of art, and it’s hardly surprising to hear the Nordic Council for Literature was so taken by it…Iceland has been the source of magnificent and powerful stories and Karitas – Untitled by Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir is that kind of story.”
BODIL JUGGAS, ARBETARBLADET, SWEDEN
“A wonderful story, that, like any great novel, grabs you for the duration of the story and then follows you long after the book, sadly, is over.”
KATHIRINE LILLEOR, BERLINSKE TIDENDE, DENMARK
“Let it be said at once, Baldursdottir´s novel about the fate of women at the beginning of the 19th century is magnificent.“
TINA MARIA WINTHER, POLITIKEN, DENMARK
“Kristin Marja unravels her story with great skill … a very enjoyable read. … Karitas – untitled is the story of a woman trapped in a tangible tug of war. And it’s powerfully told.”
MELKORKA OSKARSDOTTIR, FRETTABLADID
“Through every loss and setback, the brutal winters, the months the men spend at sea with the fishing fleet, the women endure. As Karitas’ mother says: “We fight, we Icelanders, we fight.” A convincing portrayal of the lives of Icelandic women during an important period in the country’s history.”
KIRKUS REVIEWS
“A sensitive and almost melancholic work about love and the burdens it may impose on the lovers.”
BUECHER-MAGAZIN.DE
“… a sweeping tale as majestic and often as bleak and brutal as the Icelandic landscape and the seas that wash its shores. What really shines through is the faith Karitas and the women around her have in themselves and each other. Baldursdóttir has made a wonderful contribution to bringing Nordic literature to a wider audience.”
CINDY MATTHEWS, AUTHORLINK, US
“… a newly translated Icelandic novel peopled with unique, quirky, and well-defined characters. With the talent of a true artist, the author paints stunning descriptions … This is a rich novel that readers who enjoy international literature will appreciate.”
JANICE OTTERSBERG, HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW, US
“Although set in the twentieth century, Karitas’s story speaks to the trials of a modern woman as well―how to balance childcare and art, how to care for a home while your husband is absent, how to love a man who is bad for you but who says all the right things. No matter what time we live in, love and relationships and our calling in life are difficult, and her story reflects that of all women, past and present, Icelandic and beyond. It also reflects the female experience of bonding with other women in times of trouble to make it all work out, even if it means taking the long way around.”
SAN FRANCISCO BOOK REVIEW
