The Perfect Landscape (2009)

Hanna returns to Iceland from Amsterdam to arrange an exhibition space in the city’s Art Museum. Iceland is enjoying a financial boom and tycoons are lavishing expensive gifts on the museum. One of them is a landscape painting with a birch tree by a famous artist from the last century. The only problem is that the head warden of the museum, the enigmatic Steinn, believes the painting to be a forgery. Is it? And what can be done if it turns out not to be genuine?

In this original story, Sigurdardottir taps into her insights into the art world in a unique way. Characters from the Icelandic and international art world and museums are vividly brought to life and collide in conflicts that are driven by ambition, greed, and betrayal – and the passion for art.

• Nominated for IMPAC Dublin Literary Award