About
Ragnhildur Hólmgeirsdóttir was born in Reykjavík, Iceland in 1988. She has an MA degree in history and an interest in anything macabre, unusual and archaic. Her two novels, The City of Bronze and The Kingdom of the Islands (not translated into English) successfully integrate the European fantasy tradition into Icelandic storytelling in a manner that is both highly original and easily accessible to a wide audience.
email: rakeldur@gmail.com
For foreign rights, please contact: Bókabeitan Publishing House, birgitta@bokabeitan.is
The Kingdom of the Islands (2019)
For centuries, no one has lived in the far north of the Kingdom of the Islands. No houses disturb the barren landscape of green, mossy hills and red marshland. Except, of course, for the boarding school.
Fourteen-year-old Arilda has never wondered why her school is in such an isolated place. Born in a kingdom built on secrets, into a family bent on silence, she strays too far into the marshes and discovers something that was meant to be hidden.
Touched by a curse no one will admit being real, Arilda must search for answers on her own while her childhood world crumbles around her.
Awards, nominations and recognitions:
Nominated to the Nordic Council’s Children and Young People’s Literature Prize 2020
Nominated to the Reykjavik Municipality Children’s Book Prize 2020
Nominated to Fjöruverðlaun / The Icelandic Women’s Literature Prize 2019
2nd place in The Icelandic Booksellers prize 2019
The City of Bronze (2015)
In a distant country, there is an ancient city, where luxurious palaces are surrounded by lush gardens and the harbour is full of galleons and frigates. But the palaces are empty and the ships are unmanned.
On one of the broad avenues of the city stands the House of Exchange, where none but children have lived for the last three centuries. This is where Pietro, a twelve year old boy, chooses to go after losing his family to the plague. It is a place of refuge for any child under the age of sixteen, no matter what secrets they might be hiding. But destruction seems to follow Pietro wherever he goes and he soon finds himself on a quest that leads him directly to the core of the mysteries of the city.
Awards, nominations and recognitions:
Reykjavik Municipality Children’s Book Prize 2016
The annual acknowledgement of IBBY in Iceland 2016
The Icelandic Booksellers prize 2015
Nominated to the Nordic Council’s Children and Young People’s Literature Prize 2016
Nominated to Fjöruverðlaun / The Icelandic Women’s Literature Prize 2015