Magma
by Thóra Hjörleifsdóttir
Translated from the Icelandic by Meg Matich
Magma. There could hardly be a better title for this incandescent book. Barely the length of a novella, it can be read in an hour or two. Yet, this account of an abusive relationship hits home and hits hard.
Lilya, a 20-year old university student, falls in love with a young man who seems to have all the attributes of a perfect partner – he is good-looking and intelligent and exudes a relaxed sophistication with his Derrida quotes, Latin studies and committed vegetarianism. Lilya moves in with him, and gradually but increasingly perceptibly, is sucked into a daily pattern of abuse and cruelty – sexual, verbal, emotional – which breaks down Lilya’s boundaries of consent and ultimately, her sanity.
By having Lilya as her narrator, Hjörleifsdóttir puts us in her protagonist’s skin. She makes us feel Lilya’s pain and that sense of insecurity and eagerness to please which is exploited by her so-called lover for his ends. In a brilliant use of the “unreliable narrator” narrative, the author makes us realise the toxicity of the relationship even before Lilja does.
This is not a comfortable read. It is certainly not for the faint-hearted, especially those who are disturbed by depiction of abuse. Despite its subject however, there is a cool beauty to the prose, ably conveyed in Meg Matich’s translation, which seems to contrast with the subject matter. Magma is Hjörleifsdóttir’s debut novel, but she has published three poetry collections with her poetry collective Imposter Poets. It shows in the restrained style she adopts – brief chapters with no word wasted, sudden eruptions of striking imagery. To give an example, here’s a chapter, very ironically titled “Love” which consists, essentially, of a poem in prose:
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.
This is a remarkable
book and if it serves, as mentioned in the opening author’s note, to break the
silence in which “shame and isolation thrive”, it will have an impact beyond
the literary.
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