Beautiful and atmospheric.
Book changed directions in the middle. ( )

Rather unusual story about a young man who has fathered a child due to a brief one-night stand. He was very close to his mother who has recently died in a car accident. He lives with his father and a handicapped twin.

Lobbi loves plants especially roses- a love he got from his mother. Rather than pursue an education, he decides to go to a monastery that has an exceptional rose garden but which has been untended for many years. He travels to this remote area and takes a room at the monastery.

He soon gets a call from the mother of his child, Anna, who wants him to take care of Flora Sol for about a month while she finishes her thesis in genetics and he agrees to do so not having a clue what it takes to take care of a toddler.

Anna brings Flora but then decides to stay and they fall into a sort of brother-sister relationship, both loving and doting on the child.

This is a story of a young man growing up and learning not to just feel for himself but to feel for others. Interesting in places, and then rather low-key and slow. Contemporary Icelandic literature. ( )

This was a "coming of age" story of a 22 year old man who likes to plant tomatoes and roses and has a 7 month old child. I read this because the setting was Iceland, but one would not know it from the story. And in fact, the main character left Iceland midway through and went to an un-named European country which has a monastery. Very repetitive. Quite disappointed. 262 pages ( )

Brilliant books- will look for her earlier ones

The Greenhouse is a coming-of-age novel about grief, responsibility, commitment and finding yourself in unexpected places. It's not my usual cup of tea, but I rather enjoyed it.

Narrator Arnljotur leaves Iceland after the death of his mother to travel to a European monastery and resurrect their once-famous rose garden, leaving behind his aging father, his autistic twin brother and the accidental daughter he fathered one drunken evening in his mother's greenhouse.

When Anna brings his daughter to Europe and asks him to take care of her while Anna finishes her thesis, Arnljotur must rapidly realign his new-forged life and - with the support of his friend Father Thomas (and his extensive knowledge of non-Hollywood cinema) - confront what he really wants in his future.

The narrative is self-conscious, Arnljotur being very concerned with visual memory and his physical experiences. His uncertainty and inexperience are endearing and often amusing; while I felt this was ripe for literary interpretation I chose not to engage on that level, enjoying the simple, quiet story presented on the surface.

My only real criticism is that the ending felt rather abrupt - I wanted more closure; instead, it felt we left Arnljotur on the brink of a new journey, but it was unclear where it would lead or how well-equipped he really was for it.

Full thoughts. ( )