Butterflies in November - Tapa blanda

"With subtle prose and sardonic humor Olafsdottir upends expectations." --Carmela Ciuraru, New York Times "Quirky and enchanting . . . a tale of resilient spirits on a journey." --Boston Globe "This picaresque novel . . . is carried by the evocation of [Iceland's] bleak, moody beauty." --New Yorker "Anyone who's fallen inexplicably in love with a European road-trip story will be vulnerable to this fictional journey around Iceland's Ring Road." --New York Magazine/Vulture.com (one of "9 Books You Need to Read") "Two very unlikely travelers take a genuinely funny and gleefully manic Icelandic road trip. . . . A fresh and zany novel . . . and at its heart, is a tragicomedy rich in pathos and humor." --Malcolm Forbes, Minneapolis Star Tribune "A beguiling road trip tale . . . an engaging and entertaining read." --New York Journal of Books "Thoughtful and fun . . . a novel of surprising tension and tenderness." --Kirkus Reviews "A funny and bizarre travelog of Iceland's unique culture and landscape . . . give in to the quirky spirit of the book." --Library Journal " lafsd ttir has created a singular heroine in Butterflies in November unafraid, unapologetic and also unforgettable. When she enters a lottery, she wins it. When she has sex with the wrong man, she gets back into her car and keeps on driving. I loved her and this quirky, enticing novel that never stopped surprising." --Marcy Dermansky, author of Twins and Bad Marie "Authentic. The story explores what freedom really means when romantic and familial bonds are pushed aside." --Publishers Weekly "A bright and blissful journey into the darkest month in Iceland. Olafsdottir repeatedly smashes our idea of the everyday, only to sew it back together in a magically surprising and beautiful embroidery. A highly original and very charming novel." --Hallgrimur Helgason, author of The Hitman's Guide to Housecleaning "A funny, moving, and occasionally bizarre exploration of life's upheavals and reversals." --Financial Times "[An] evocative, humorous novel. . . . The beguiling imagery captures the fragile and fleeting beauty of those loved and lost, as well as the possibilities of self reinvention; of shedding skins, growing wings." --Observer "A whimsical Icelandic journey. . . . There are moving moments of sadness and hilarity . . . and Olafsdottir shows a rare ability to write a serious and convincing small child; the boy's flowering relationship with his clueless foster-carer is beautifully handled." --Guardian "[A] super talented writer. . . brilliantly written . . . quirky, fun, adorable and bizarre. You'll savor each page of this book." --Company (one of Five Female Authors You Need to Know)

* Long-listed for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2014 * "I can't remember the last time I was so enchanted by a novel like I am by Butterflies in November. Zany, surprising, full of twists and turns, it left me breathless. I just love this book." --Ann Hood, author of The Knitting Circle and The Obituary Writer After a day of being dumped--twice--and accidentally killing a goose, a young woman yearns for a tropical vacation far from the chaos of her life. Instead, her plans are wrecked by her best friend's four-year-old deaf-mute son, thrust into her reluctant care. But when the boy chooses the winning numbers for a lottery ticket, the two of them set off on a road trip across Iceland with a glove compartment stuffed full of their jackpot earnings. Along the way, they encounter black sand beaches, cucumber farms, lava fields, flocks of sheep, an Estonian choir, a falconer, a hitchhiker, and both of her exes desperate for another chance. What begins as a spontaneous adventure will unexpectedly and profoundly change the way she views her past and charts her future. Butterflies in November is a blackly comic, charming, and uplifting tale of friends and lovers, motherhood, and self-discovery.