As Icelandic author Helgadóttir’s novel opens, the “strongest woman in the world” is attempting an impossible feat: breaking out of a prison cell while shackled. The novel then moves sharply back in time to show that woman, Gunnhildur, as a baby breaking free of her mother’s body. When she’s brought home to a place of emotional extremes, her older brother, Eiður, attempts to soothe her. She grabs his fingers with an unfathomable strength, and the siblings immediately “became powerless comrades in a place where nothing could ever be changed.” Then their mother dies, and their father separates the siblings. Living with their father, Eiður searches for connection and community through the world of activism, protests, and the desire for social change. Meanwhile, Gunnhildur is sent to live with her uncle and cousin on a farm—and learns to harness a quiet inner strength in addition to her physical prowess. Eiður struggles with his public persona as a human rights activist, chef, and environmentalist—and his interior truth, that he may not have the passion to continue trying to change the world. While Gunnhildur’s life seems more aimless than Eiður’s, she finds purpose in both motherhood and her work as a sought-after mortuary cosmetologist. The novel alternates between chapters focused on Eiður, Gunnhildur, and the lives of Gunnhildur’s clients. Though they initially feel out of place, the cosmetology chapters offer lovely glimpses into humankind more generally, and reveal the immense care Gunnhildur puts into the world. As the novel brings itself back to where it opened, the juxtaposition of Eiður’s flashier energy and Gunnhildur’s understated fortitude brings each sibling—and their relationship with each other—into sharper focus. Helgadóttir’s novel quietly reveals the power that comes from finding your place even if it’s not where you expected.