“You could have left those behind,” she says as we’re carrying in the plants, the boy holding the smallest one. “This one’s plastic and that’s a silk flower and that one’s made of tissue.”

That explains why they’ve started to go mouldy. I’ve been watering plants that aren’t even plants and shouldn’t be watered. No wonder everything felt so phoney around us, that our relationship was withering; love can’t thrive on artificial flowers. I should have caught on; lily-reddish pink and always in bloom, that’s no life.

The plot for Butterflies in November is rather simple, it starts with a woman who has lost both her husband and lover on the same day, goes to a fortune teller, buys the lottery, wins and embarks on circular journey – along Iceland’s Ring Road – with her best friend’s deaf four-year-old son. On their journey they forge an unexpected relationship and cruise around the country, right before Christmas, a time when people are is not expected to travel East. They also adopt and kill several animals on the road, she meets different men and wins a summer bungalow in the winter. As the narrator shares the character’s happens and mishappens in the journey, she uses flashbacks to remember events from her childhood and younger years, some traumatic, some just descriptive. 

As it is told in first person, readers have an intimate relationship with the main character. She does not hide any feelings even if they are not entirely politically correct. That was my favorite aspect of the novel, I could relate to the woman because she shared everything raw – no sugar coating. Her narrative also transports readers to Iceland, its circular road, the animals, the type of grass and trees, how it should be colder but it is not and how she is followed everywhere by butterflies that should not be there right before December. I could imagine myself there, in the car with them. Her relationship with the boy also unfolds with the narrative. At first, their communication is limited to some mouthed words by the deaf boy and signs, by they end, they have created a beautiful relationship that uncovers both their personalities.  

Although it is not a direct criticism to the Icelandic society, through the relationships the narrator describes with her husband, her lover, her mother and her best friend,  Olafsdottir, between the lines, lets the reader interpret some of the hardship that women are facing, especially a 33-year-old woman who is recently divorced and has no children. So, despite Iceland being number 1 in the Gender Gender Report and having the smallest gender gap, women still have to put up with negative social pressures. I enjoyed Butterflies in November because it is humorous, light, and still touches very sensible fibers. At the end of the book, the author adds about twenty Icelandic recipes and one knitting recipe, although it was fun to read, I didn’t quite get why she added them. 

About Audur Ava Olafsfottir

Audur Ava Olafsdottir was born in Iceland in 1958. She works at the University of Iceland as the director of the university’s Art Museum. She has written five novels and won the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 2018 for her novel “Hotel Silence”.

Other books written by Icelandic women

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Icelandic initiatives and projects that support and empower girls and women

Icelandic Women’s Rights Association

This association was founded in 1907, by the women that lead suffragist movement, with the goal to fight for gender equality and women’s rights in Iceland. Although when it was created it focused more on political equality for women, today it works to improve all all aspects of society: education, healthy, and income equality, among others. They work closely with Parliament and other government officials in writing proposals that encourage gender equality and women’s rights. Their building in Reykjavik is a save shelter for women that need it and it is also a space to organize conferences and other public meetings. They have published several books on the subject matter and have a podcast.