Salka Valka by Halldór Laxness

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Summary

A BRAND NEW TRANSLATION OF LAXNESS' TALE OF POVERTY AND GREED

Set at the start of the twentieth century in a fictional Icelandic fishing village, Salka Valka follows the struggles of a penniless woman, Sigurlína, and her daughter, Salka Valka.

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Salka Valka by Halldór Laxness

A new translation of Nobel Prize-winning author Halldór Laxness's masterpiece

Late one snowy midwinter night, in a remote Icelandic fishing village, a penniless woman arrives by boat. She comes with her daughter, the young but gutsy Salka Valka. The two must forge a life in this remote place, where everyone is at the mercy of a single wealthy merchant, and where everything revolves around fish.

After her mother's tragic death, Salka grows into a fiercely independent-minded adult - cutting off her hair, educating herself and becoming an advocate for the town's working class. A coming-of-age story, a feminist tale, a lament for Iceland's poor - this is the funny, tender, epic story of Salka Valka.

'Laxness is a poet who writes to the edges of the pages, a visionary who allows us a plot' Daily Telegraph

TRANSLATED BY PHILIP ROUGHTON

Laxness was a genius * New York Review of Books *
Sprinkled throughout is Icelandic folk wisdom, dark humor, fatalism and a strong sense of the absurd.. A tremendous book * Laxness in Translation *
Laxness is a poet who writes to the edges of the pages, a visionary who allows us a plot * Daily Telegraph *
Halldór Laxness (Author)
Halldór Laxness (1908-98) was born near Reykjavik, Iceland. His first novel was published when he was seventeen. The undisputed master of contemporary Icelandic fiction and one of the outstanding novelists of the twentieth-century, he wrote more than sixty books. Laxness was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1955.

Philip Roughton (Translator)
Philip Roughton was born in the US and now lives in Iceland. He is an award-winning translator of modern Icelandic literature, having translated works by numerous Icelandic writers, including the Nobel prize-winning author Halldór Laxness.

SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9781784877606
ISBN 10 1784877603
Title Salka Valka
Author Halldór Laxness
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Paperback
Publisher Vintage Publishing
Year published 2022-02-10
Number of pages 560
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.