The Girl Who Died by Ragnar Jonasson

“Teacher wanted at the edge of the world.” It’s the mid-1980s when Una reads the job posting while in her flat in Reykjavik and decides she needs a change in her life. She applies for the job in Skalar, a village of ten people, where she will teach two children. Una gets the job and learns lodging will be provided. After making the trip to the remote edge of Iceland, she discovers she will be living in the attic apartment of the home of one of her students.

Una begins to learn about her new home and finds the villagers are not friendly, the weather is dark and bleak and her apartment seems to be haunted by a girl in a white dress singing a lullaby. As Christmas approaches, there is a death in the village and other mysterious events occur. Una wonders if she is going crazy or if the villagers are protecting each other’s secrets.

The Girl Who Died is the first book I have read by an Icelandic author and I really enjoyed it! It is a bit of a slow burn, but the story and atmosphere had me hooked and kept me reading. There were sections at the end of some chapters from the perspective of another character who has been jailed for a crime she doesn’t recall committing. The pieces all come together at the end, but these excerpts, while italicized, are dropped right at the end of a chapter. It was a little jarring the first time it happened, but I got used to it quickly. I will be seeking out more of Ragnar Jonasson’s books because this was good story and I really felt like I was in the village of Skalar experiencing the isolation and dreary winter days with Una.

Note: If you are doing the adult Summer Reading BINGO and have never been to Iceland, this would check off that block! It would also check off “written by a foreign author”, “historical fiction” or “recommended by a librarian” if you need one of those blocks instead!

Check out The Girl Who Died by Ragnar Jonasson at the Library (https://catalog.lclibs.org/polaris/search/title.aspx…).