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A review by sadiereadsagain
Karitas Untitled by Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir
4.0
Trying to find an audiobook in the Kindle Unlimited slush pile, I was relieved to finally come across this book. Set in Iceland, this story follows the life of a young female artist - Karitas - as she come of age and into her art, only to be scuppered by the restraints of rural living, child rearing and a husband who does not respect her talent.
The book opens during the first world war, when Karitas is a young girl (the youngest of three sisters, with three younger brothers). Widowed, her mother decides to pursue an education and better life for her children, and gives up everything to move across the country with them. I found the depiction of rural and poor life in Iceland at that time fascinating to hear about. After her talents are noticed by a wealthy local woman, Karitas is sponsored to study abroad in Copenhagen, returning with hopes of making a name for herself as an artist. However, life has other plans, and she becomes wife to a poor fisherman and mother to his children. As the pressures of this new existence builds, Karitas falls apart.
There is so much that I loved about this book. For one, I've never read a book set in Iceland and so I really enjoyed learning about what life was like for the people there in the first half of the 20th century. That it is told in such beautiful, vivid language elevated this fascinating story. And I really adored the character of Karitas - from her plucky childhood beginnings, to her fraught early motherhood and loss of herself, to the inner strength that, even when dimmed, was always there. This book is full of fantastic female characters, supporting one another and pulling each other through the toils of daily living.
Translated as it is from Icelandic, I was very glad I listened to it as an audio version. The names alone would have thrown me! However, the downside to this is that - after my initial elation to see that there is a sequel (as I had felt the ending wasn't quite ending enough) - English-speaking readers may never get to see what happens to Karitas after this book's conclusion, as there doesn't seem to be an English translation of the second book ([b:Óreiða á striga|6784209|Óreiða á striga|Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1267061122l/6784209._SY75_.jpg|6986725]). I remain hopeful that will be rectified soon, as this English translation has only just been published and perhaps the sequel is in the pipeline.
The book opens during the first world war, when Karitas is a young girl (the youngest of three sisters, with three younger brothers). Widowed, her mother decides to pursue an education and better life for her children, and gives up everything to move across the country with them. I found the depiction of rural and poor life in Iceland at that time fascinating to hear about. After her talents are noticed by a wealthy local woman, Karitas is sponsored to study abroad in Copenhagen, returning with hopes of making a name for herself as an artist. However, life has other plans, and she becomes wife to a poor fisherman and mother to his children. As the pressures of this new existence builds, Karitas falls apart.
There is so much that I loved about this book. For one, I've never read a book set in Iceland and so I really enjoyed learning about what life was like for the people there in the first half of the 20th century. That it is told in such beautiful, vivid language elevated this fascinating story. And I really adored the character of Karitas - from her plucky childhood beginnings, to her fraught early motherhood and loss of herself, to the inner strength that, even when dimmed, was always there. This book is full of fantastic female characters, supporting one another and pulling each other through the toils of daily living.
Translated as it is from Icelandic, I was very glad I listened to it as an audio version. The names alone would have thrown me! However, the downside to this is that - after my initial elation to see that there is a sequel (as I had felt the ending wasn't quite ending enough) - English-speaking readers may never get to see what happens to Karitas after this book's conclusion, as there doesn't seem to be an English translation of the second book ([b:Óreiða á striga|6784209|Óreiða á striga|Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1267061122l/6784209._SY75_.jpg|6986725]). I remain hopeful that will be rectified soon, as this English translation has only just been published and perhaps the sequel is in the pipeline.