Summer at Little Lava

Finished August 10

Summer at Little Lava: A Season at the Edge of the World by Charles Fergus

This memoir is of a summer spent in a remote, off-the-grid house on a farm on the west coast of Iceland. The author is still reeling from the sudden and violent death of his mother and hopes that this time will help the healing. No roads lead to the house, and to get to it you must cross a wetland that is flooded twice a day by the tide. It is surrounded by lava fields and has views of mountains, volcanoes, and the rugged coastline. 

Fergus goes in late May and, working with an Icelandic friend does repairs to the abandoned house, making it weatherproof and fitting it with the basics. He and the friend had gone in December to do a reconnaissance and see what would be needed. There is no heat other than the fires that they make, no electricity, and no running water. They use one of the cold pools in a cleft in the lava field as a fridge, and get some supplies locally from neighbours. 

Once his wife and son join him and they buy a used car, they spend the summer exploring the country nearby, including on a collapsible kayak that he brings to have time in the nearby ocean, are visited by relatives undergoing their own healing journey, and enjoy watching the animals and birds and noting the local plants and geology. 

The author's wife Nancy had done graduate work on the Icelandic sagas, they had visited the country a few times together and Nancy had gone again to study the language. It was she who had discovered this farm and they had already planned the visit before the loss of the author's mother. Nancy has also found references to the farm dating back to 1354 and there are the remains of other structures on the property. 

This is a personal memoir of his own emotional journey, but also beautiful descriptions of the land and its occupants. This is a book to savour. 

A Climate of Fear

Finished October 10
A Climate of Fear by Fred Vargas, translated by Siân Reynolds

Commissaire Adamsberg is back, and this time the case reaches into the past and outside France. Another police inspector, Commissaire Bourlin, calls Adamsberg to see if one of his officers, Danglard can have a look at a symbol that was left at the scene of an apparent suicide. There are some things about the scene that don't seem right, and a small symbol drawn at the scene may be a clue to what really happened to Alice Gauthier.
She had a visitor shortly before her death and her insistence on venturing out alone to send a letter may be another clue. Adamsberg is intrigued and agrees that things don't look right. When they identify her visitor and go to see him, things get even more worrisome. Alice and her visitor's mother were both part of a group of French people who went to a remote island in Iceland and underwent some sort of harrowing experience when fog trapped them there for two weeks.
Adamsberg begins investigating this trip and the terrible things that happened there, when another death links the victims to a different group of circumstances, one moored in the revolutionary past. As usual, Adamsberg lets his mind direct his case, following his thoughts and the "itch" that keeps him from settling into the case. But not all his team are with him and as the team diverges, he and Danglard grow apart.
We get to see him interact with the different team members in new ways. Veyrenc, Retancourt, Voisenet, Mordent, Justin, and the others all play important roles as does Adamsberg's neighbour Lucio.
I like Adamsberg's thought processes, how he takes his time and lets his thoughts wander, how he uses quiet to bring ideas out of hiding. He is a complex man, imperfect, yet with excellent instincts. A man who observes carefully, and knows his own weaknesses as well as his strengths.

The Blue Fox

Finished May 9
The Blue Fox by Sjon, translated by Victoria Cribb

This short novel is set in 1883 in rural Iceland. It gives a sense of the place and time, but also has the feel of a fable.
Fridrik B Fridjónsson studied natural history at the University of Copenhagen, travelling to Iceland in 1868 to sell his parents' farm and other belongings after their deaths and return to Denmark. But an encounter with a young woman causes him to stay at the farm and make his life there.
In 1883, he lives at the farm with his servant, Hafdís Jónsdóttir (Abba), and upon her death, he pays the local pastor, Reverend Baldur Skuggason, to give her a funeral and burial. Skuggason's servant, Hálfdán Atlason, comes to convey the body in its coffin back to the church from the farm.
Both servants had Down's syndrome and few children with the syndrome at the time in Iceland survived to adulthood. Many treated them as less than human. Fridrik was not one of those people, and he and Abba lived together happily, learning things from each other and being happy.
Following the funeral, Reverend Skuggason, went hunting after a fox that he heard was in the area, and we see this part of the story from an omniscient observer point of view.
The writing is engaging and lyrical, drawing the reader in. This is a story to read slowly, savouring each sentence and thinking about the meaning behind the words. I loved it.

Close to the Heel

Finished March 6
Close to the Heel by Norah McClintock

This is one of the books in Seven: the Series. Each book is written by a different Canadian author, and focuses on one of the grandsons of David, who has recently passed away. David left a task for each of his grandsons, fully funded from his estate. Other books I have read in the series are:  Between Heaven and Earth, Lost Cause, and Jump Cut and Ink Me.
This book tells the story of Rennie, the grandson David only recently discovered the existence of. Rennie and David didn't have a lot of time to get to know each other, but Rennie liked David a lot. Rennie has had big changes in his life recently and has had to learn new skills to deal with them in a productive way. His relationship with his father isn't as close as it could be, and Rennie is surprised when his dad agrees to let him go off on his own to Iceland to complete his task.
But things in Iceland don't go so smoothly. The family of the guide who is supposed to lead Rennie on his task has some issues it is working through, and his presence uncovers some family secrets. Rennie's questions may put himself in danger as well and his handling of the developing situation will affect both his own confidence and his father's view of him.