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A review by queencleo
Woman at 1,000 Degrees by Hallgrímur Helgason
3.0
An octogenarian Icelander ruminates on her life from the confines of a hospital bed in someone’s garage.
I struggled with this one. Chapters 19 & 20 have some of the most beautiful language I’ve read in a long time. At other times Herra’s memoirs are slow going and uninspiring. At 300 & some pages it should have been an easygoing read but it felt like I was wading in this woman’s life for weeks and weeks, living the War in real time, especially at the end.
Very similar to the 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. Only without the pace & drive.. The story meanders mostly through the second World War and Herrbjorg's struggles through Germany and Poland as an Icelander and a teenage girl.
Far from the dry/dark humour I was expecting from the blurb, this is a harrowing tale of a war survivor's life, and the struggles she faced even after the war was over
Read if you enjoy historical fiction, particularly from the second World War.
Read if you enjoyed Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
I struggled with this one. Chapters 19 & 20 have some of the most beautiful language I’ve read in a long time. At other times Herra’s memoirs are slow going and uninspiring. At 300 & some pages it should have been an easygoing read but it felt like I was wading in this woman’s life for weeks and weeks, living the War in real time, especially at the end.
Very similar to the 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. Only without the pace & drive.. The story meanders mostly through the second World War and Herrbjorg's struggles through Germany and Poland as an Icelander and a teenage girl.
Far from the dry/dark humour I was expecting from the blurb, this is a harrowing tale of a war survivor's life, and the struggles she faced even after the war was over
Read if you enjoy historical fiction, particularly from the second World War.
Read if you enjoyed Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah