Magma

By: Thora Hjörleifsdóttir, Meg Matich - translator

Narrated by: Genevieve Gaunt

Twenty-year-old Lilja is in love.

He is older and beautiful, a Derrida-quoting intellectual.

He is also a serial cheater, gaslighter and narcissist.

Lilja will do anything to hold on to him.

And so she accepts his deceptions and endures his sexual desires. She rationalises his toxic behaviour and permits him to cross all her boundaries. In her desperation to be the perfect lover, she finds herself unable to break free from the toxic cycle. And then an unexpected ultimatum: an all-consuming love or the promise of a life reclaimed.

Thora Hjörleifsdóttir explores the darkest corners of relationships, exposing the undercurrents of violence that often go undetected. In an era of growing pornification, she deftly illustrates the failings of our culture to recognise symptoms of cruelty. In visceral, poetic prose, translated from Icelandic by Meg Matich, Magma depicts the unspooling of a tender-hearted young woman aching to love and be loved.

©2021 Thora Hjörleifsdóttir and Meg Matich (P)2021 Macmillan Publishers International Limited

Critic reviews

"A compulsive and propulsive debut." (Lily King)

"A luminous and poetic novel.... [Hjörleifsdóttir] has created a whole new landscape for storytelling." (John Freeman)