Nordic Book Club, July 2025

Join us in July as we read and discuss Sigrún Pálsdottir’s Embroidery (2019), translated from the Icelandic by Lytton Smith (2023). 

From the Publisher (Open Letter Books):

How do you turn old gold into priceless treasure? 

At the turn of the twentieth century, Sigurlína finds herself in a hopeless situation. She is the motherless daughter of an eccentric father, who expects her to spend her life helping him catalogue Icelandic archaeological artifacts.

But Sigurlína has her own ambitions of education and excitement and after a harrowing experience, takes fate into her own hands. She disappears from Reykjavík, along with a historical relic from her father’s collection. Through a series of incredible events, the artifact is unveiled at The Metropolitan Museum of New York. Meanwhile, officials in Iceland launch their own investigation into the theft of the artifact.

A tragicomic tale about the preservation of cultural treasure, an intriguing perspective on the…