Magma: A Novel

By Thora Hjörleifsdóttir

“The provocative Icelandic poet’s debut novel . . . urgently explores the challenges and costs of a young woman’s passionate yet toxic relationship.” —Time, Best Books of Summer 2021

As a young university student, Lilja is quickly smitten with the intelligent, beautiful young man from school who quotes Derrida and reads Latin and cooks balanced vegetarian meals. Before she knows it, she’s moved into his cramped apartment, surrounded by sour towels and flat Diet Cokes. As the newfound intimacy of sharing a shower and a bed fuels her desire to please her partner, his subtle abuses continue to mount undetected. Lilja desperately tries to meet his every need, slowly losing her sense of self in the process.

In her debut novel, Thora Hjörleifsdóttir sheds light on the commonplace undercurrents of violence that so often go undetected in romantic relationships. She deftly illustrates the failings of psychiatric systems in recognizing symptoms of cruelty, and in powerful, poetic prose depicts the unspooling of a tender-hearted woman desperate to love well.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jun 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9780802157409

Thora Hjörleifsdóttir

Thora Hjörleifsdóttir has published three poetry collections with her poetry collective, Imposter Poets. She lives in Reykjavík. Magma is her first novel.

Book preview

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Reviews for Magma

[thorold_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Iceland is one of the places we all look to as a model of good practice in gender equality, but Þóra Hjörleifsdóttir wants us to see that even in those supposedly ideal conditions, the way heterosexual relationships work is still unbalanced. When a vulnerable woman gets together with a selfish and insensitive man, it is the woman who is likely to get hurt, and then to assume that whatever has gone wrong must be her fault somehow, even when it plainly isn't. The narrator of this stark, stripped-down novel, Lilja, records the development of her relations with her abusive boyfriend in a set of short, diary-like pieces that start out from a view of life that is every bit as romantic as Bridget Jones, but never, even for an instant, remotely funny. We know from the start that Lilja is heading for disaster, but we also know that there is no possible way we can make her believe that, or change course in time to avoid it.Beautiful, very painful writing.

[miss.mesmerized · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

After some time in Denmark and a long trip to South America, Lilja returns to her home town Reykjavik where she falls for a well-read student. She only works in a café and thus always feels a bit inferior to the intelligent young man. Nevertheless, she quickly moves in with him, knowing that she is not really his girlfriend but rather the person he shares the bed with. She calls him very private as he does not invite her to his family or friends and accepts his conditions in return for his love. Yet, this toxic relationship leaves its scars on her - figuratively on her soul, feeling not good enough for him and therefore accepting other women besides her, and very visibly on her skin when she discovers that cutting can release some stress.Told by a first person narrator, the reader is quite close to Lilja and her thoughts. At first, she seems to be quite some tough and modern young woman who lives her life according to her own ideals and standards. Gradually, however, the downwards spiral is set in motion turning her into a vulnerable and dependent woman who is caught in the negative view of herself. Thora Hjorleifsdottir’s novel “Magma” tackles a complex and difficult issue but makes it easy to understand how some women end up in unhealthy relationships and do not find – or even want - a way out.Lilja, on the one hand, can clearly name how she is being treated. How recklessly he chats with other women online while she is in the same room or even meets them the same day they have a date. She falls for him and accepts being treated like some second rate being, listens to him praising his ex-girlfriends in front of her and even gives in when he asks for things which clearly transgress her boundaries.She believes she deserves being treated like this, she is not pretty enough, not good enough, not clever enough, too sensitive, behaving horribly - simply crazy, a failure. If only she could be the girl he expects her to be, then he could also love her. The narrator does not sound foolish or naive at all, even though it is obvious that this thinking isn’t healthy, we all know these kinds of toxic thoughts which are hard to get rid of even if you are standing with both feet on the ground and having a healthy self-image.At the end of the day, it is simply how women end up being abused and ill-treated by men they believe - despite everything they go through - love them. It starts with small signs until the chain of events once set in motion cannot be stopped anymore and ultimately heads towards a complete disaster.Wonderfully written in a reduced, direct style which makes it easy to follow the line of thoughts and go down with the narrator. More than once, you want to shout at her or take her in your arms, so heart-wrenching it is to see what’s happening without any possibility of interfering.