Summer Light, and Then Comes the Night

I read this book when I was in Iceland during its winter on a 3-month writing retreat. I was staying in the Westfjord’s in a town called Pingeri - population 200, which influenced my connection to the novel which is set in one of Iceland’s small, isolated towns and follows the lives of several residents.

It is both mundane and fantastical and philosophical. Written by an Icelandic author and translated into English, the story felt unique and highly distinctive of Icelandic culture. It’s a poetic, witty, slow-paced read, with some black humor that made me laugh out loud.