Sixty Kilograms of Sunshine

"Sixty Kilograms of Sunshine" is a historical novel about how new times arrived at the turn of the 20th century in cold and poor Iceland. The inhabitants of a remote fjord in the north of the country had been living... a miserable existence for centuries, struggling for survival: battling blizzards and avalanches, herding sheep and cows, fishing for cod and sharks, fixing the leaking roofs of their earthen huts. It seemed impossible to break out of this rut of life.
But one day, a school of herring entered the fjord, followed by Norwegian fishermen, and everything in the backwater came to life!
This is not only a grand novel about the history of a people, written vividly and with a sense of humor, but also a touching narrative about the fate of a boy who seeks a way to survive in this harsh world. Halgrimur Helgason (b. 1959) is one of the most renowned Icelandic writers, a recipient of many national and international literary awards, and a knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of France (2021). The author's poetry and novels "101 Reykjavik", "Ten Housekeeping Tips for the Hired Killer", and "Woman at 1000 °C" have been published in Russian.
The novel "Sixty Kilograms of Sunshine" was awarded the Icelandic Literary Prize (2019), as well as prizes for Best Translated Book of the Year in Germany (2020) and Best Audiobook in Iceland (2021).