Frida Isberg | The Mark

9780571376766

03/07/25

PB

295 pages

Translated by Larissa Kyzer

A debut novel of urgent big ideas imbued with pacy plotting and atmospheric power, by an exciting Icelandic literary talent.

‘Searingly brilliant . . . [Ísberg] like George Orwell and Anthony Burgess before her, lets the dystopian ironies speak for themselves.’
TLS

‘Absolutely stunning.’
HERNAN DIAZ

‘A masterpiece.’
KAVEH AKBAR

A debut novel of urgent big ideas imbued with pacy plotting and atmospheric power, by an exciting new talent.

The Icelandic Psychological Association has prepared a test. They call it a sensitivity assessment: a way of measuring a person’s empathy and identifying the potential for anti-social behaviour.

In a few days’ time, Iceland will vote on whether to make the test compulsory for every citizen. The nation is bitterly divided. Some believe the test makes society safer; others decry it as a violation.

As the referendum draws closer, four people – Vetur, Eyja, Tristan and Ólafur – find themselves caught in the teeth of the debate. Each of them will have to reckon with uncomfortable questions: Where do the rights of society end and the rights of the individual begin? When does utopia become dystopia?

No matter which side wins, they will all have to find a way to live with the result.