Woman at 1000 Degrees (2011)

Shortlisted for the Latvian Literature Year Prize “The Best Translation 2024”

Eighty-year old Herra Björnsson lies alone in her garage waiting to die. Oh, she has two weeks left, maybe three – she has booked her cremation appointment, at a blistering 1,000 degrees, so it won't be long. But until then she has her cigarettes, her laptop, a World War II grenade, and her memories to sustain her.

One of the most original narrators in literary history, Herra takes readers with her on a dazzling ride of a novel as she reflects – in a voice by turns darkly funny, poignant and always, always smart – on the mishaps, tragedies and turns of luck that shaped her life. And with a bawdy, uncompromising spirit, she has survived it all. As hilarious as it is heartbreaking, Hallgrimur Helgason tells the deeply moving story of a woman swept up by the forces of history.