![]() ![]() ![]() So many things have changed in that time, but I could still recall the atmosphere of that story. It’s ten years now since I read ‘My Girl’, the story that won Emily Bullock the Bristol Short Story Prize. This is a novel that draws its readers close to its protagonist, where they become trapped just as she is. Magma can be emotionally hard to read at times, and one wishes for Lilja to find her way out of this situation. Though it sounds a contradiction in terms, it feels that there’s a precise artlessness to Lilja’s narration, such that we can see what she can’t. He gets irritated, seems even hurt, if I put on makeup, and he asks accusingly, “Who are you doing that for?” I don’t understand why he gets so jealous I would never want to be with anyone else. It’s so wonderful how he likes me exactly how I am. Magma is told in short chapters, vignettes that show vividly how much of a hold the man has over Lilja: Her boyfriend is controlling, and Lilja is trapped not just in the relationship with him, but also in the way she sees him. This short Icelandic novel is a portrait of Lilja, a 20-year-old woman in a relationship with a graduate student. ![]()
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