A review by sundazebookcafe
The Swell by Kat Gordon

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Thanks Bonnier Books and NetGalley for my advanced reader copy of this book!

Set in Iceland 1910, sisters Freyja and Gudrun rescue a mysterious, shipwrecked man near their remote farm. Sixty five years later, Sigga is visiting her grandmother when news breaks: a body has been discovered on a mountainside near Reykjavík, and it’s perfectly preserved in ice. Rich in Icelandic myth, which I so appreciated after my November trip, this was a beautifully compelling and atmospheric read and a wonderful farewell to winter (for me).

A good example of books in good conversation with each other is The Swell and The Greenlanders. Both Nordic sagas with a focus on character, family and the swell of everyday life, I enjoyed The Swell as much as I did The Greenlanders. In fact, I enjoyed it more because I was already familiar with the family naming conventions, the local produce and rhythm of the ways in these harsh-condition, Nordic countries. We move between 1910 and the 1970s and piece together this Icelandic mystery, the changing timeline really works to build suspense and turn this into a page-turner. I love a story that digs deep into both character and plot, and that’s exactly what The Swell does.

Gudrun is a headstrong heroine, balanced out by her milder-mannered sister Freyja, and they make compelling characters to steer us through the earlier year setting. Actually, they’re mirrors for Sigga in the 1970s and her ‘Amma’, her grandmother. Freyja and Gudrun live with their widowed father in a patriarchally dominated village, which soon becomes a strong theme in the book, that of historical patriarchy. When a Danish sailor washes up ashore and the sisters bring him home, whispers swirl around the village about two unmarried women cohabiting with a man.

In 1975, Sigga is untangling who she is outside of her relationships with her partner, her brothers, society as it still stands. She is worried about her future, her fertility, whether or not she truly has autonomy of her body. And we hear mentions of the Women’s Day Off, a strike where women abstained from any work that was assumed to be a ‘woman’s job’. Feminist uprisings and modern feminism are, of course, then huge themes in this book. Then, the news breaks: a body has been found preserved in ice on a mountainside. As Amma and Sigga converse about their histories, thus begs the question: who is the body that was found?

The author creates a hauntingly atmospheric scene in Iceland and I loved this as a constant backdrop. While it’s got a slow burn start, I raced through the latter half of this book. It’s suspenseful and teases out the mystery in heartbreaking, shocking and tragically real circumstances, while examining sisterhood and breaking free from the patriarchy.