HALLDÓRA K. THORODDSEN
Iceland
Halldóra Thoroddsen (1950-2021) was an Icelandic writer. She graduated pedagogy and art in Iceland. She worked as a teacher, graphic editor in a daily newspaper, head of the art curriculum for elementary schools and as a program director in radio. She wrote in several genres, including poetry, short stories, micro fiction and novels.
Double glass
Translation: Meri Kicovska
A novel about the gap between generations in a society and about the isolation of both youth and old age. Unpretentious hero worship of the common man. The main character is a 78-year-old widow. Death is slowly approaching her. She lives alone in her small apartment in Reykjavík. Every day she observes the world through the double glass window in his kitchen. Over the years, the number of friends decreases, her health deteriorates and the energy and vitality gradually drains from her body. All that awaits her is isolation and death. But suddenly a miracle happens.
She falls in love with a man named Sverir, and then they plan to move into an apartment in a retirement home together. New love shakes up her lonely existence, giving her hope, but also doubts and fears. Aware of the generational taboo, which arouses ridicule, she wonders: how will others see this love? A story told without sentimentality, with a firm and full style, whose originality has rightly won the European Union Prize for Literature in 2017 and the prestigious Icelandic Prize for Women's Literature in 2016.