Scan barcode
A review by henrymarlene
The Girl Who Died by Ragnar Jónasson
5.0
I must say that Swedish authors have the market on crime noir. This book was phenomenal. Set on the edge of the world, (literally in Skalar, Iceland), ‘The Girl Who Died’ is the perfect blend of a psychological thriller with a little paranormal horror thrown in as a curve ball. The pure ingenuity behind Una moving to Skalar to teach two young girls inn a town of ten, and being thrown into a town where everyone knows everyone and everything – apart from Una – made this an exceptional read.
The ambience that surrounds Skalar is unsettling, and complements the personalities of each of the town’s inhabitants well. We may only see one of the characters for fleeting moments, but when we do they are larger than life, foreboding and you understand where Una’s weariness comes from. Una herself is a loner, unsure of who she was and where she was going; moving to a place in the middle of nowhere to find herself seems fortuitous, yet it is so much more hauntingly isolating than she could ever realise. Una cones to Skalar to teach Edda and Kolbrun, and stays in Salka and Edda’s house: an old family home with skeletons in its many closets. It is here she also sees another girl, and the questions start to arise. Apart from who the girl is, why is Gruffi out to annihilate her and run her out of town? Who is the mysterious man that turns up in Skalar, and what is he connected to? Why isn’t Una supported and why do the town leave her to flounder (no pun intended for the fishing village)? What does all this have to do with the house she is in? Like a marionette puppet, this book has all the right strings pulling at the right times, so creepy, so un-natural. So worth reading this one!
The ambience that surrounds Skalar is unsettling, and complements the personalities of each of the town’s inhabitants well. We may only see one of the characters for fleeting moments, but when we do they are larger than life, foreboding and you understand where Una’s weariness comes from. Una herself is a loner, unsure of who she was and where she was going; moving to a place in the middle of nowhere to find herself seems fortuitous, yet it is so much more hauntingly isolating than she could ever realise. Una cones to Skalar to teach Edda and Kolbrun, and stays in Salka and Edda’s house: an old family home with skeletons in its many closets. It is here she also sees another girl, and the questions start to arise. Apart from who the girl is, why is Gruffi out to annihilate her and run her out of town? Who is the mysterious man that turns up in Skalar, and what is he connected to? Why isn’t Una supported and why do the town leave her to flounder (no pun intended for the fishing village)? What does all this have to do with the house she is in? Like a marionette puppet, this book has all the right strings pulling at the right times, so creepy, so un-natural. So worth reading this one!