Book Review of The Greenhouse by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir

UPDATED: 2/5/2023

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262 pages, originally published in Iceland in 2007, published in English in 2011

YOU MAY ENJOY THIS BOOK IF YOU LIKE:

literary fiction * novels about trips * modern Icelandic literature

TRAVEL INSPIRATION:

This novel is initially set in Iceland, a country which serves an important role throughout the novel, even with the main character absconds to another (unnamed) country on a trip. As in her other novels, Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir paints an authentic picture of Iceland, this time exploring the harsh terrain’s impact on plants and human lives. As I have shared in other posts, I have gone on a bit of a reading spurt of her novels after our second trip to Iceland had to be cancelled due to COVID, and I have found the closest replacement possible by reading about this country.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir

Born and raised in Iceland, Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir currently resides in Reykjavík where she is an assistant professor of art history at the University of Iceland. She lived in Paris while obtaining her art history degree from Sorbonne. At present, Auður has written 6 novels. The Greenhouse was her third novel. She has received several literary awards for her novels and is also a playwright and poet.

I recently read and reviewed Ólafsdóttir’s second novel, Butterflies in November , (you can read that review here), her fifth novel Hotel Silence (you can read that review here), and her sixth novel Miss Iceland (you can read that review here). It is rare for me to read so much in such short order by the same author, but there is something that appeals to me about Ólafsdóttir’s stories - her playful writing style while still tackling tough issues - and what is emerging as a consistent trend to her novels - characters at a crossroads in their lives taking a journey as part of the path forward.

Note: because the Icelandic tradition is to use patronyms instead of family names (i.e., Ólafsdóttir literally means ‘Olaf’s daughter’), it is appropriate to refer to Auður by her first name. On pronunciation: the letter ‘ð’ (capitalized Ð) is pronounced like a ‘th’ sound so her name approximates to oi-th-ur. The letter is called ‘eth’ (just like the letter b would be bee).

REVIEW OF The Greenhouse BY AUÐUR AVA ÓLAFSDÓTTIR

At the age of 22, main character Arnljótur Thórir, finds himself confronted by several unexpected accidents: the death of his mother after an auto accident on a slick Icelandic road and parenthood after a chance entanglement in his and his mother’s beloved greenhouse. Lobbi (one of Arnljótur’s various nicknames bestowed by his father) has a lifelong love of cultivating plants - no easy task in the harsh Icelandic climate. This interest was shared with his late mother, and it is a topic that is somewhat confusing to Lobbi’s more pragmatic father, who is an engineer. Lobbi’s father wishes for him to attend college and set a more traditional path forward, but Lobbi is not persuaded and is ready to carve his own path in life.

At the start of the novel, the death (of his mother) and the birth (of his child) have already occurred, and Lobbi is on the precipice of leaving his homeland to travel to a distant monastery in another (unnamed) country. The monastery had a historically important garden that Lobbi had read about since childhood but had since fallen into a state of disrepair as the monks had favored other pursuits. After writing to the monastery offering his services to shape the garden back into something to be proud of and having his offer accepted by the monks, Lobbi was ready to board a plane. From there, the novel takes off with a number of twists and turns on Lobbi’s adventure, flashbacks to fill in the backstory, and a collision between Lobbi’s past and expected future when he has to confront parenthood head-on.

In a way, learning the culture, customs, and new language of the town surrounding the monastery is a perfect parallel to Lobbi shifting into adulthood. In both cases, he is unsure of himself and, symbolically, learning to walk again. Lobbi ultimately discovers he is better prepared to be successful than he had given himself credit for. Underpinning his adventure are his mixed feelings for his father and twin brother (who has some unnamed challenges and lives in a community home) back in Iceland.

As is the case in other novels by this author, she paints vivid characters with believable foibles in a way that makes the reader root for them even as their flaws are exposed. The characters also address serious life lessons, handled in an expertly subtle way that makes the novel about more than the stories contained within.