Magma
A Novel

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

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

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

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