The Icelandic vulcanologist Maria Holm is on a plane to Paris. The woman across the aisle is making eyes at her. The next day she sees the same woman at the café where she’s having breakfast. Who is the enchantingly beautiful Donna with the raven black hair and voice that is at once soothing and gruff. And what does Maria want — the woman whom the glacier sent back?

In the novel Women of Quality Steinunn Sigurdardottir approaches the reader from an unexpected angle. All of her best qualities are put on display: screeching sarcasm, razor-sharp style, a sparkling sense of humor and unique insights into a diverse world of love and eroticism.

FOUR STARS
“… a true ode to Iceland. To the azure heavens, the glaciers and the powers of nature. … a multifaceted story that offers countless potential interpretations. …”
THORUNN H SIGURJONSDOTTIR, FRETTATIMINN

“This is an extremely lively book about a world where men may just be unnecessary.”
EGILL HELGASON, EYJAN

“The story is in a certain way a Bildungsroman of a woman at a turning point in her life. The main character is the vulcanologist Maria who has, along with her colleague Bardur, survived a crash after their vehicle fell 200 meters from a snowbank in Vatnajokull glacier. After the fall she awakens to a new life, but nothing is the same as it was. But life carries on and before long Maria again finds in a free fall of another kind where her entire safety net seems to be failing and her existence takes off in an unexpected direction. … The book is an enjoyable read, with moments with narrative joy and humor … At the time she takes on philosophical and ethical questions of human existence, interpersonal relationships, strength and frailty, power, acquiescence and independence. At the core of this spectrum is love in all its various and at times fractured forms …”
OLINA THORVARDARDOTTIR, DV