The most beautiful word

When the Icelanders were invited, in a poll, to choose the most beautiful word in their language, they did not hesitate to choose the name of the noblest profession "midwife", which in Icelandic literally means "mother of light"... In this wonderful novel, a midwife traces the path that Man from the darkness of the womb to the darkness of the grave, trying to uncover the mystery of mysteries, the most amazing things, the light... It is a novel of the extremes, a novel about existence. And nothingness, about the fragility of man, about the superiority of animals, about our contingent existence, the glimpse of life that we were given between two darknesses... Who can clarify the dimensions of life better than the woman through whose hands we come into the world? Who can wonder more deeply about the essence of light than an author who belongs to the darkest part of the world, where darkness reigns for months, and where every sparkle of light is an occasion for contemplation and joy!

أودو آفا أولافسدوتير كاتبةٌ آيسلنديَّة. حازتْ روايتها «فندق الصمت» الصادرة عن دار الآداب جائزة المجلس الأعلى للأدب الإسكندينافيّ، وجائزة أفضل روايةٍ آيسلنديَّة.