Magma, Thora Hjorleifsdottir
Magma, Thora Hjorleifsdottir
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Magma
A Novel

Author: Thóra Hjörleifsdóttir, Meg Matich

Narrator: Genevieve Gaunt

Unabridged: 2 hr

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 08/17/2021


Synopsis

Twenty-year-old Lilja is in love. As a young university student, she is quickly smitten with the intelligent, beautiful young man from school who quotes Derrida and reads Latin and cooks balanced vegetarian meals. Before she even realizes, she's moved in with him, living in 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 acts of nearly imperceptible abuse continue to mount undetected. Lilja desperately tries to be the perfect lover, attempting to meet his every need. But in order to do so, she gradually lets go of her boundaries and starts to lose her sense of self.

With astounding clarity and restraint, 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.

Contains mature themes.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Meike on December 01, 2022

In this short novella, narrator Lilja tells the story of how she ended up in an abusive relationship - and what makes the text so effective is that the guy she submits to is basically made of red flags, but as Lilja employs very common female rationalizations to explain to herself why it's all not h......more

Goodreads review by Andrew on July 13, 2023

A novella comprising a series of statements, like journal entries, made by a young Icelandic woman, Lilja, describing a short period of her life. She has supportive parents who she loves but her life and most of her waking thoughts are dominated by a good looking young university student she has a s......more

Goodreads review by ☘Misericordia☘ on February 25, 2023

Q: ...he’s been at the university for eight years and he’s halfway to a heap of degrees. (c) Lazy SOB. Eternal student. Q: The Ex tried to bring me into the conversation by explaining, among other things, what a strawberry milkshake was—it’s when a man cums on a woman’s face and punches her in the nose......more

Goodreads review by Krista on July 19, 2021

He’s peeled me like an onion. Surrounded by the leavings of my own sallow skin, I’ve dwindled to nothing, and my eyes smart. Well, this broke me. Magma may be short (it’s about an hour’s read), but debut Icelandic author Thora Hjörleifsdóttir hits all the slow beats of an increasingly manipulati......more