A review by aialamode
Karitas, l'esquisse d'un rêve by Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir

5.0

I read the french translation of this Icelandic book, discovered thanks to Exploratology. The prose took a while for me to get used to, a good several chapters, but once I did, I found the story rewarding. The book is part one of a series following the life of Karitas, the youngest girl in a family of 6 living in the East of Iceland who dreams of becoming a painter. Led by their mother, a widower farmer who wishes her children to be educated despite their means, the family travel all over Iceland to do so, working all the while even while facing harsh Icelandic winters. It is the portrait of a land, of nature, a culture, a family, a girl, then a woman all written in a distinct style unique to this book. It reminded me a bit of "Antonia's Line", the 1995 Dutch film about the matriarch of a family.