Animal Life

 

Animal Life / Audur Ava Olafsdottir
trans. from the Icelandic by Brian FitzGibbon
NY: Black Cat, 2022, c2020.
188 p.

This short novel has an interesting premise: Dómhildur is a midwife, who descends from a long line of midwives on her mother's side and undertakers on her father's. It's the leadup to Christmas, and Dómhildur has just delivered her 1,922nd baby. She is taking some time off, and she is now living in the apartment that belonged to her aunt, a midwife known for her unconventional methods. 

As a storm rolls in, Dómhildur talks to a nosy neighbour, calls her anxious sister, and explores a wealth of writing and clippings left by her aunt -- including what appears to be an unfinished book. She discovers her aunt's strange reflections on birth, death and everything in between. She also finds that some of these writings echo her own experiences on the job and beyond. There is beauty among the strangeness, and hope for a new vision of life. 

This was a short read, and I had expected a little more about Dómhildur's work, as it seemed to be a big part of the blurb. But it was a bit more twisty, and focused on her experience of her aunt's life, her memories, and her thoughts on the future. It was ok -- I found it a little dry, a little slow moving, but maybe I wasn't quite in the mood. Read it on a stormy December night and it might be a bit easier to connect to! There were interesting concepts and characters, but it wasn't one I felt wowed by.