Margins
2019
First Published
3.10
Average Rating
236
Number of Pages

Like a modern Midsummer Night’s Dream, an ethereal and haunting novel about a young spy who enchanted by a species of half-swan, half-human creatures—an obsession that ultimately leads her to question her own existence—and sanity. In the not-too-distant future, a young spy named Elísabet Eva finds herself mentally unraveling following an assignment in Paris. Everything in Elísabet’s life in the city—her friends, social engagements, and late nights—revolved around her work as a spy with the Special Unit. To regain her mental balance, Elísabet finds herself taking long solitary walks near the lake. One day, she sees two strange beasts emerging from the water—a pair of seemingly mythical creatures, human woman above the waist, swan below. Curious, she follows them through tangles of thickets to a clearing . . . and into a strange new reality. Elísabet’s walks become regular visits to these swan women. As she earns their trust, the creatures reveal the enigma of their secret existence and their desire to reproduce. Pulled further and further into the swanfolk’s monomaniacal (and often violent) quest, Elísabet finds her own mind growing increasingly untrustworthy. Ultimately, she is forced to reckon with both the consequences of her involvement with these unusual beings and her own past—and face a truth she’s carefully tried to evade.

Avg Rating
3.10
Number of Ratings
383
5 STARS
13%
4 STARS
19%
3 STARS
40%
2 STARS
21%
1 STARS
7%
goodreads

Author

Kristin Omarsdottir
Kristin Omarsdottir
Author · 7 books

Kristín grew up in Hafnarfjörður. She studied Literature and Spanish at the University of Iceland, then pursued Spanish at the Universities of Barcelona and Copenhagen. She has published poetry, novels, short stories and plays. Her first publication was the poetry book Í húsinu okkar er þoka (There is Fog in Our House) in 1987, and her first novel, Svartir brúðarkjólar (Black Wedding Dresses) came out in 1992. Kristín has won many awards for her work, including the DV Cultural Prize for Literature for her 1998 novel Elskan mín ég dey (I Will Die, my Love). Kristín has worked with other artists, such as the photographer Nanna Bisp Büchert, with whom she produced the book Sérstakur dagur (Special Day), in which poetry and photographs work together. She has also collaborated with Haraldur Jónsson on the film The Secret Lives of Icelanders.

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