A sweet story set in a small village in France. It ended up being a sweeter story than I thought it be.

This lyrically written book is truly unique in the author’s ability to paint such detailed pictures of the dual settings, as well as feature the depth of emotions of the main character. Ilse is a translator, living in Greenland, translating French books into Danish and English. When Ilse gets the opportunity to leave her cold, wet home to translate a famous poets work in the Luberon area of Provence, filled with warmth and color, Ilse jumps at the opportunity. The poet’s work is renowned, and Ilse becomes close to him as she tries to find words reflecting his troubadour style. I loved the book and highly recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Elizabeth Berklund's novel A Northern Light in Provence published last week, so I'm a little behind on posting this review. However, there's still time for you to purchase this book or check it out from your library before summer reading season!

The synopsis: Ilse lives in Greenland in a rickety old cottage by the sea where she works as a translator of novels. She can speak other languages, although she's never actually been to any of the places whose languages she speaks!

She's been translating a novel from French to English when her editor asks her to translate a book of poetry from Provencal to English. Ilse agrees and finds the courage to ask for a little more: money and a two-week trip to Provence in France to meet with the poet. It'll help her translations, after all.

And her editor agrees! So off Ilse goes, leaving behind rainy and cold Greenland for the beautiful flowers and sunshine in France.

How will meeting the poet influence Ilse's future? Will she find what or who she needs in France? Or will she make her way back to Greenland? You'll have to read the novel to find out!

Honestly, it took me awhile to get into this novel, and even once I did, I found a certain part of it to be predictable and underdeveloped. But in a way, it needed to be underdeveloped in order to make Ilse's final decision that much easier.

This novel will definitely satisfy your wanderlust, whether it makes you want to visit France or take a trip to Greenland! The author actually went to Greenland to research the novel!

Sad, beautiful, and romantic.

(Not, I think, a Romance.)

The love story here is really between the translator and her Poet – at times she wonders if its romantic or sexual, but ultimately decides its not – as well as the translator and Provence, and the translator and Greenland. Sure, there’s a love triangle of sorts between the translator and the poet’s son and her childhood best friend, but ultimately, that plot is secondary to the journey of self-discovery, exploration of words and food and wine, grief and memory, family and tradition. Come for the sun-drenched scenes of the translator and the Poet sitting beneath an olive tree in a Provençal vineyard, drinking Ricard and talking about the intimacies of language, stay for the homey pub on the wind-swept shores of Oqaatsut, where glaciers floating by are better than any TV could ever be.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Quite possibly my first book of the year contender! Just wow. First, I was drawn into the life and land of Greenland where we first meet Ilse. She drew me into her world immediately. And I was along for the ride to France.
All of your senses are attuned when reading this novel. From the sound and smell of sea air. To the bustle of people and trains and scents coming from cafes. And don't even get me going on the pure excitement I felt on reading someone's quest for poetry.
I can't imagine the thrill of translating poetry in the French countryside---oh wait, I can! Because I read this novel and was there with Ilse. (by the way it is pronounced ill-see)
Being a poetry lover and knowing some French definitely made this a 10/10 reading experience for me. I can see where some people got a little lost or taken out of the story, but I didn't have that issue.

A lovely book! I've never read a book set in Greenland, so this was fascinating from the start. The main character is a young woman who works as a translator of French literature...even though she has never set foot in France. She gets her big chance to follow her dream of going to Provence and takes it with gusto. Assigned to learn the Provencal dialect, she works with a poet to learn the subtleties of the language and many other things. This was a charming book and wonderful for light, enjoyable reading.

Charming romantic story set in Greenland and France. Elizabeth Birkelund does a beautiful job of drawing you in to the majesty of these two wonderful locations. The enchanting story of the translator and the poet is magical. Can’t wait to read more from Elizabeth.

Thank you Ballantine Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Oh, I enjoyed this story so much! The story of Ilse from Greenland, a book translator of several languages, but primarily to/from the French ,was the 'perfect storm' of a story. Isolated in a little shack in Greenland,(fabulous descriptions of terrain and weather) recovering from the death of her beloved brother, she finally gets an editor to pay her way to France to help translate a book of poetry by Provence's "last living troubador". Oooh and when she gets to Provence it is everything she always dreamed it would be. I adore Provence and her descriptions bring home everything I love about it. Along the way there are love interests, potential love interests (make no mistake, this is NOT a romance novel, tho), wild weather, beautiful poetry and Ilse's personal conundrum about what to do with her life. The translation aspect is handled skillfully and is a fascinating part of the story on it's own. A beautiful story of two vastly different countries colliding.

The beauty in this book is in the extremes. For the cold dark and dreary Greenland to the warm bright and lively Provence. At first I wasn’t sure what book I picked up. But I fell in love with the book and Provence all over again. The poetry and love of the land and language made me feel like I was transported to the vineyards. This is a unique and lovely read.

This is a lovely, entertaining, romantic, thoughtful book about Ilse, a translator, who has lived all her life in Greenland. She has translated many books into several different languages, but has never left her homeland of Greenland.

Then, opportunity knocks -- Ilse loves the French language and is asked to travel to Provence to meet and work with a famous elderly poet who is coming out with a special edition of, what will turn out to be, his last book.

Ilse falls in love with Provence and its beautiful language. She also loves Po, the poet, and they develop a special relationship as she learns more about herself and what she wants out of life. Does she want to spend the rest of her life in cold, icy Greenland, or would a move to warm, colorful, soothing Provence be what she needs?

Then, Ilse meets Po’s son, Frey, which provides another set of questions for her to think about, and decisions must be made -- but which way will she decide to go?

This author does an excellent job of describing Greenland and its menacing weather and landscape, but the people are so warm and wonderful. They are her family. She does an equally gifted job of giving the reader the feeling of being in Provence and experiencing the sights and smells of the beautiful area. And the people Ilse meets are the beginning of a new family. She has a lot to think about!

I really enjoyed this one. The story was compelling, and the writing made me feel like I was “there,” experiencing whatever Ilse was experiencing, wherever she was. I highly recommend it!

I’d like to thank NetGalley, Elizabeth Birkelund, and Ballantine Books for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

A Northern Light in Provence is a beautifully written novel by Elizabeth Birkelund. Ilse Erlund lives north of the Arctic Circle in the west coast village of Oqaatsut, Greenland. She physically endures long dark freezing winters and extra rainy springs and summers but mentally she is living elsewhere depending upon the literary work she is translating. Ilse is fluent in English, Danish, French, and Kalaallsut, the western Greenlandic language. Her work is translating French works into English or Danish, sometimes both.

Living in literature has been a solace for Ilse as she has grieved the tragic loss of her brother, Jann. Although preferring solitude for the most part, Ilse does have some good friends in her small village, including Val Barker, who owns Tipsy’s where the locals congregate, and Troy “Beluga” Belke who she has known most of her life. Living in an old sea captain’s cabin high on stilts at the edge of the sea brings a type of Arctic awareness she savors as she watches calving icebergs, whales, seals, and the dancing northern lights.

Going through the motions, Ilse has dreamed of the warm countryside of Provence. When her publisher assigns the translation of the poem collection of the last troubadour of Provence, Geoffrey Labaye, with a short deadline, Ilse negotiates a raise as well as a trip to Provence to work with the Poet himself. It is with this trip and the resulting relationships developed that Ilse is able to recover her soul.

This is one of the most beautiful stories I have read. The rich descriptions and imagery have made an impact I won’t soon forget. The restoration of a woman to the one she was born to be is a tale spun of pure gold. I very much enjoyed this book and I do recommend it!

I mostly enjoyed this book. To be honest Ilse was a bit too much of a doormat type for my tastes. She couldn’t seem to make up her own mind or stand up for herself at 36 years old but she wanted everyone to give her everything she seemingly needed. This included Po and all of the Provence locals. A very strange mentality. The relationship between Ilse and Po worked well but it felt rushed and odd at times. Isle’s overwhelming jealousy of others, most notably Val, was uncomfortable.

Ilse Ecklund works as a translator from a cottage on the coast of Greenland. When she gets the opportunity to translate the poetry of a famous French poet, she accepts with the stipulation that she is sent to France to meet him and translate his work in person.

Ilse had never been anywhere but Greenland, so the beautiful colors along the coast of France were a big part of her awakening to a wider world. Along with that and meeting the poet, Geoffrey, and later his son Frey, the ice in Isle begins to thaw and she becomes open to love in a way she had never realized.

This is no coming of age story, but it is one in which a young woman discovers who she is and what she wants from life. Readers are privy to her relationships with the people in her life, both in Greenland and France, and each location offers her a sense of home.

When she is confronted with making a life altering decision, Ilse considers the places and the people she has grown to love and makes that decision with her heart.

The story had a great sense of place, both in France and Greenland, adding customs from each so readers can feel as if they are actually in Ilse’s shoes.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for allowing me to read an advance copy. I loved the book and am happy to offer my honest review and recommend this to readers.

I enjoyed reading A Northern Light in Provence by Elizabeth Birkelund. . You will fall in love with all the characters. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely. Happy Reading!

coming-of-age, cultural-assimilation, cultural-differences, cultural-diversity, cultural-exploration, France, Greenland, Icelanders, Inuit, languages, read, romance, translators, travel, women's fiction*****

Before I try to tell what a very good book this is, I'd like to say that (because of vision issues and the TTS just doesn't cut it) I dropped my free temporary EARC and bought the audio to finish reading.
The publisher's blurb is very good as far as it goes, but it can't convey the way the story roped me in and made me want to keep reading for the characters' sake as well as to enjoy more of the countryside and the people.
I requested and received a free temporary EARC from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

This is a great book for someone who wants lovely prose, beautiful settings, and emoootions. I didn’t love the third person narration (“Ilse this” and “Ilse that”) but that might be a product of reading this in translation. I found this predictable at times, but also I was very confused by the ending, it seemed very rushed and not explained. If you’re looking for a comfort read that’s not super plot-driven, you’ll enjoy this.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine for the opportunity to read A Northern Light in Provence by Elizabeth Birkelund. The author's writing is beautiful. Her ability to choose the perfect word for every descriptive phrase caused me to slowly savor this lovely book.

Author of The Dressmaker and The Runaway Wife, Elizabeth Birkelund draws on her Danish ancestry and experience living in Provence, France to give us her latest novel, A Northern Light in Provence. Opening in a remote part of the Danish self-governing territory of Greenland, Birkelund paints a vivid picture of village life, residents, traditions and superstitions, and local climate while focusing on 35-year-old Ilse Erland. Introduced to French in high school by Madame LaRoche, Ilse was captivated by the new language and culture, and through continued education, turned her infatuation into a career translating French literature into Danish and English. Single and choosing to live in an isolated house on the coast, Ilse considers words her children and extended family. Little does Émile Moreau, her French publisher, know that his star translator has never set foot in France. Always moving up Ilse’s translation deadlines, Émile offers her the opportunity of a lifetime if only she can complete her latest job early.

As it turns out, that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity--translating the poetry of “the last living troubadour of Provence”--also comes with a quick deadline for reasons I won’t disclose. When Ilse unexpectedly finds herself in Beau Rivière, a warm, colorful Provence village, her environment and her life change dramatically as she lives in a French home and establishes a working relationship with the charming elderly poet, Geoffrey Labaye. Then one day Geoffrey Labaye’s son appears, and life changes again.

Interestingly, Birkelund includes two formative characters who died before the novel opens: Ilse’s brother Jann and Madame LaRoche, the French teacher. As a frequent reader of translated literature, I was also captivated by the translation aspects of the novel. Indeed, translation challenges as well as languages and its influences on people all play major roles.

In the end, this is Ilse’s story, and Ilse is not only a translator but also a person. In part, the author’s website describes her newest novel: “With an eye and ear attuned to the sensibilities of French life, Elizabeth Birkelund has created a love story about a woman forced to choose between the security of her quiet northern home and possibility of the life of her dreams.” Readers will need to complete this three-part book to learn Ilse's choice.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine/Random House for an advance reader egalley.

“It’s what Po taught me, that there’s always enough love, that it’s infinite, even beyond death.”


Goodness this book swept me away! Such a beautifully written story that was so unique I quite didn’t expect it. The MC, Ilse, is living in Greenland and makes her living translating books to French. She actually is gifted with languages and even though French is a favorite- she has never been to France. Ilse does get her chance and what unfolds is magical- such a beautiful story! It’s so atmospheric I felt like I had traveled with Ilse from the frigid and vast tundras of Greenland to the Mediterranean climate of France. It’s a book to just jump into and get lost in. I got emotional several times reading this and the ending leaves you so content!

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: Romance, Women's Fiction, Travel Fiction, Books About Books
Spice Level: Some sex on the page
Language: A little bit of swearing

The contrast between Greenland and France was intense. Ilse has a natural talent for languages (one I envy) and translates French books into English. She's finally bold enough to ask for a raise and a trip to France to better understand the poet's dialect and meaning.

This trip changes her life.

I saw A NORTHERN LIGHT IN PROVENCE as three distinct acts like a play. It opens in Greenland. The middle is in France. And the final act is when Ilse returns to Greenland, but as I was reading, I didn't know if she would stay there or not—and I'm not going to tell you her final decision.

As Ilse grew as a person, I was interested to see where she would go. At one point, I felt so tense about her decisions, and at other times really questioned if she knew what she was doing.

The rhythm of her life in France as she worked with the poet, discussing language and love, reminded me of A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW. It's languorous. Smooth. Cerebral.

Everything centers around Ilse: both her internal and external journey.

I found the ending satisfying.

Happy reading!