Heida: A Shepherd at the Edge of the World

by Steinunn Sigurdardottir

'HEIDA IS A FORCE OF NATURE . . . EXACTLY THE RIGHT SORT OF MODERN ROLE MODEL' SUNDAY TIMES

The inspiring story of Icelandic sheep farmer, former model and feminist heroine Heida Asgeirsdottir has become a double prize-winning international bestseller.

As heard on Radio 4's Start the Week


I'm not on my own because I've been sitting crying into a handkerchief or apron over a lack of interested men. I've been made every offer imaginable over the years. Men offer themselves, their sons . . . drunk fathers sometimes call me up and say things like: "Do you need a farmhand?" "I can lift the hay bales" "I can repair your tractors". . .

Heida is a solitary farmer with a flock of 500 sheep in a remorseless area bordering Iceland's highlands. It's known as the End of the World. One of her nearest neighbours is Iceland's most notorious volcano, Katla, which has periodically driven away the inhabitants of Ljotarstadir ever since people first started farming there in the twelfth century. This portrait of Heida written with wit and humour by one of Iceland's most acclaimed novelists, Steinunn Sigurdardottir, tells a heroic tale of a charismatic young woman, who walked away from a career as a model to take over the family farm at the age of 23.

I want to tell women they can do anything, and to show that sheep farming isn't just a man's game.

Divided into four seasons, Heida tells the story of a remarkable year, when Heida reluctantly went into politics to fight plans to raise a hydro-electric power station on her land. This book paints a unforgettable portrait of a remote life close to nature. Translated into six languages, Heida has won two non-fiction prizes and has become an international bestseller.

We humans are mortal; the land outlives us, new people come, new sheep, new birds and so on but the land with its rivers and lakes and resources, remains.

'UTTERLY CHARMING' MAIL ON SUNDAY

'REVELATORY AND INSPIRING' HERALD

• ISBN10: 147369650X
• ISBN13: 9781473696501
• Publish Date: 18 April 2019
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 29 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: John Murray Press
• Imprint: John Murray Publishers Ltd
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Heida is a biographical story told in a stream of consciousness style during a year in the life of a small sheep farmer fighting against an increasingly profit driven impersonal progress-for-the-sake-of-progress machine. Originally published in 2016 in Iceland, this English translation is due out 31st March 2020 from Hatchette on their Quercus imprint, it's 320 pages and will be available in hardcover format. (Other editions available in other formats).

The prose is very spare and feels like it's been written down almost verbatim in the voice of the subject, Heida. The pacing of the conversational prose makes it *feel* like it's been translated and I think it could seem quite choppy and unpolished until readers become comfortable with it. I found her story compelling and admirable and I was rooting for her throughout the story.

I like her spirit of self-reliance and practicality as well as the utter lack of any self pity. She's unapologetically strong and willing to take steps and assume roles outside of her comfort zone in order to make a necessary change.

I found it an enjoyable but often stark look at a somewhat hard life in an difficult climate. I found the writing distracting and choppy at first but not noticeable after a while. Her story is fascinating and I enjoyed reading about it.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.