We meet the title character when she is about 10 years old. She and her mother, Sigurlina, are getting off a boat in a small Icelandic fishing village. They were going from the north to Rekjavik, but when the money ran out, their journey ended. This small village revolved around fish, which is owned by a wealthy man who also owns the shop. Fish processors are not given wages, but credit at the shop, which ensures they will always be poor and in debt. The villagers are not used to outsiders and are not inclined to help them out. Sigurlina ends up at the Salvation Army, which provides her with a community, but makes her more of an outsider. Meanwhile, Salka is brutally bullied and develops a thick skin. They are taken in by an elderly couple who need help on their farm after their son brings them there, but he is an alcoholic who can be violent and has a disturbing attraction to Salka. At the end of the first section (originally the first book), Salka is 14.
When section two opens, Salka is grown. She owns a share in a fishing boat and has organised a fisherman’s union. This leads to unintended consequences and more poverty for the processors. The atmosphere is perfect for the Marxists who come to the village with big (unrealistic) plans, one of whom is a former resident and friend of Salka’s—he taught her to read when she’d first arrived. By now the Salvation Army no longer has a presence in the village and the conflicts become more political. The author does a good job of showing how, for some people, political ideas become a sort of religion and how in both areas, the conflict between ideals and reality can be difficult, both in public and private life.
I could relate to much of what was going on in this book, having moved to a small, rural, not-well-off area in New Hampshire when I was 14 and being a bullied outsider. There were class issues there, too--they called me the 'rich bitch on the hill.' I’ve also had a lot of people in my life who were very zealous in their religious and/or political views. He describes these things well. There are footnotes explaining some of the more obscure Icelandic poetry and folklore,as well as the religious texts.
This is not a cheerful read, but it was a really good book and I am glad I read it.
6 comments:
That sounds like a wonderful saga, Shari. Thanks fo the review. I, too, was bullied in grade school but more so in high school. I was the outsider that transferred to a different school because our farm was deemed to have more acreage in one township than another. It was a horrible 4 years for me. Even worse was the one hour bus ride each way. The bus had to add an extra swing to pick us up so the kids that were already on the bus had added the extra 15 or 20 minutes to their original time schedule. They didn't like me from day one.
Such is life- and I guess it just made me a stronger person on many levels. xo Diana
I'm sorry you had that experience. It's really hard. I was a sophomore when we moved from a suburban town in Illinois to the place in rural NH. Horrible is a great word to describe it. It was good for none of the family of origin. I used to go into the bathroom at lunchtime and cry. But, like you, it made me a stronger person, especially because I eventually realized that I will always be an outsider in one way or another, no matter where I live. Thankfully, no other place has been as hostile as that was. It did make me uncomfortable with the idea of moving to Maine, though, decades later, since it was still New England. But the place we landed in Maine was great. Not sure what the town in NH is like now--I got out as soon as I could and never went back!
I don't like bullies at all and have always felt empathy toward anyone of any age who are or have been bullied. So sorry you had to go through that!
Thank you, Vicki. I am grateful that I have not met the same kind of hostility in all the other small towns I have lived in!
I was thinking this story sounds 'familiar' for so many reasons. People definitely politicize their faith until it becomes all politics no faith or visa versa. That book and TV series "The Family' talks about how they're doing it intentionally on military bases as a way of spreading it through the country. The Gov becomes religiousized so it's 'always perfect' so they wont question anything and that's how you wind up with the worshipful system we have now in the face of corruption and fascism. None of those 'ways of being' would be attached to faith or God or any religious teachings but 'not questioning' anything is just exactly how it keeps them from seeing the truth. It would definitely be difficult to get ahead in a town that only gives store credits as a kind of barter system. You can't really up-sticks and get away in that situation. Removing choice for one's future and destiny is such a form of manipulation and control and it forces people to live-within the corruption enough not to make anyone upset. Perfectly dysfunctional and a loss of autonomy outside 'the norm'. Creepy that the guy had an inappropriate interest in her, hope she was able to 'stay away from it'. Glad she managed to make a kind of union and become owner in something, hopefully that lead to her freedom FROM being there, if she wanted it.
So many characters in the book were their own worst enemies, but it did make me think about how people get trapped, fearful of change, and unable to see beyond their own reality to understand that there are other ways to live.
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