A Northern Light in Provence was an absolutely delightful surprise. I was lost in and enchanted by the Provence of this book. I found so many aspects of this book interesting: a glimpse into the life of a translator; what it might be like to live in Greenland (definitely not for me); traveling to Provence and falling in love with life; a taste of the Provençal language; the journey of self-discovery; a book about books. Po, the poet whose book Ilse is translating, is both a character and a setting and is larger than life. He speaks so beautifully and so poetically that it makes me want to read his fictional book of poetry! This book has been added to my favorites list and I imagine it will be one that I return to.

It’s rare that I say I love every word of a book, but I truly love every word of this novel. It actually begins in Greenland rather than France. But it's beautiful. You’ll learn a lot about Greenland culture and customs as you get to know the main character, Ilse. Ilse is a translator who translates French into English or Danish. She is in love with France though she has never visited.

She translates in her lonely cottage outside of a very small village outside of a very small town. But now, her opportunity to fly has come. She has been inspired by the last work she translated to ask for a raise and to ask for a trip to Provence to meet a poet whose work she is being asked to translate. She gets both.

Provence is a revelation to Ilse and she begins to bloom in the sunshine and beauty. Birkelund is a lovely writer. She is poetic herself in describing the transformed Ilse as she gets to know “The Poet” she has been sent to work with. She is poetic in describing Provence.

When Ilse must return to Greenland, you will hold your breath to find out what will happen next. Where will Ilse finally land? Will she stay in Greenland or go back to France? And why. Why is important. I do hope Birkelund keeps writing.

I’m very disappointed because I wanted to like this so much. The synopsis sounded great and I was very excited to read a book partly set in Greenland because that’s very unique. But I read about 30% of this book and it just … isn’t doing it for me. The writing is lovely, but it hasn’t grabbed me yet so I had to DNF. Maybe not forever but at least for now

Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review

From the first time I met Ilse Erlund in her wobbly Greenland cottage, I loved her and her unlikely and marvelous journey to France, the land she fell in love with upon first hearing its language spoken by a French teacher. Earning a living straddling different languages, Ilse seizes the opportunity to visit Provence, fleeing dour, gray Greenland for a land rich in flowers, poetry, sensuality, and love. Ilse charmed me and the story held me spellbound throughout. I particularly enjoyed her frank assessments of lush beauty from a cold, hard perspective of her past and the country she has always known. Captivating, enjoyable story! I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

A Northern Light in Provence ✍🏽📖🏞️

⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Author: Elizabeth Birkelund

“He turns toward her suddenly and hugs her, and rather than feeling awkward, it’s as if he’s brought her into a safe resting place where no harm can reach her. ‘You see,’ he says, still in the hug, ‘we didn’t meet by coincidence.’”

Isle, a translator and lover of languages, lives in isolation on the coast of Greenland. When accepting the job of translating the poetry of a famous poet, she travels to Provence, France to immerse herself in the culture. After arriving, she becomes captivated by the charming poet and his words. She falls in love with the colors, sounds, and smells in Provence. When the poet falls ill, she extends her to stay to help care for him. After weeks in France, she must make a decision that will affect her entire future. Will she stay in the beautiful country of France or return to the isolation and comfort of her home in Greenland?

The writing in this book is absolutely beautiful. The description of the people and places is unlike anything I’ve read in a long time. The author makes you feel as though you are actually in the gorgeous settings of both France and Greenland.

This book started out a little slow but picked up a quarter of the way through. I wanted there to be more consistency in the length of the chapters. Some were pretty short, and some were much longer. I also thought the ending was a little rushed, and I would have loved to hear more about her final decision.

Overall, this book was well written. It had a different plot than anything I’ve read recently. There was also great character development, especially with the main character, Ilse. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves romance, found family, self discovery, poetry, beautiful settings, and languages.

I had a really hard time vibing with this book. I only read 50% of it. Which isn't anything to do with the writing or story, I just don't think it was for me.

I loved this book…wonderful sense of place (Greenland and France), complex and lovely characters, and an interesting and engaging storyline.

This centers around Ilse, a translator who lives in Greenland but is overjoyed to be sent to France to meet a famous poet, Po, and translate his poems. She falls for France and the charming aging Po as well. But will she also fall for his charismatic son or is the pull of her home, friends and family stronger?

Lots of lyrical writing that was a pleasure to read, and Ilse was such a joy to follow. I could easily feel and share in her love for both her homeland and her first experience of France.

Highly recommended.

My sincere thanks to the author, NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing the free early arc of A Northern Light in Provence for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

This was lovely. I'd never really contemplated what it would be like to live in Greenland but I am after reading this book and, of course, this will make you long to travel to Provence. The characters were rich, textured and I didn't know quite what would happen. I really enjoyed this book! Definitely add to your TBR!!

A Northern Light in Provence comes out next week on May 21, 2024, and you can purchase HERE!

The Anglo-Saxon language is many things, but a romance language it is not. For a richer verbal transmigration, English would have to languish topless on the pebbled beaches on the Mediterranean coast, or step among sunflowers in the dusty fields of Provence, or at the very least, bite into a tranche of crusty French bread. And that would be only the beginning.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Isle Lund has lived in the frozen tundra of Greenland for all of her life. She is fluent in many languages but she has never been outside of Greenland. So when the opportunity to finally visit France and use her French fluency presents itself, she takes it. She travels to Provence to translate the work of a famous poet and finds herself on the precipice of a lifetime decision.

The writing is lyrical and beautiful. The descriptions of both Provence and Greenland are exquisite. The love story is equally well done. Recommend!!!

First of all, Provence!!!! Second an isolated house! And third and most importantly a woman going after her dreams. Terrific atmospheric novel.

I loved how Ilse took a chance, sometimes we are so set in our ways, in what we know, that even we are somewhat restless don’t dare to do something about it and she did, she went and found a purpose and herself and happiness.

This is a great read for literary fiction fans, anyone looking for a quieter summer read that still has setting, romance, and self-discovery but in ways different from a typical bead read.
Thank you Random House and PRH audio for the free review copies of A Northern Light in Provence. This is a quietly elegant, moving story of a woman examining who she is, where she is in life, and what comes next. I love a subtle character study that honors a character as well as setting and Birkelund does a great job developing Ilse and her story. A job in translation seems symbolic to me here as Ilse herself seems at to be translating herself and her desires as well.

Ilse lives in a coastal Greenland village where she works as a translator. She’s tired of the wind and the cold and yearns for more. When she gets an assignment to translate the poems of a French poet, she requests that her publisher send her to France for a short time. She gets her wish and meets Geoffrey Labaye, the man dubbed “the last living troubadour of Provence.” They hit it off immediately and spend their days working on the poems. Ilse loves the beauty of the countryside and the wonderful weather. She meets a few of the residents of the nearby town as well as Geoffrey’s sister. A dream come true for Ilse. The town isn’t all she falls in love with.

Geoffrey’s son, Frey, unexpectedly arrives and Ilse senses he resents her being there and questions her motives. He has a fiancée in Paris who has vowed never to live in Beau Rivière, so she didn’t make the trip. When Geoffrey falls ill, Ilse ends up spending more time with Frey than working his father on the poems. They develop feelings for each other, but she knows he’s engaged. When she finds out the secret Frey has been keeping, she decides to return home.

Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. It might also make you realize that what you really needed and wanted was right in front of you all along.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was a mixed bag. There were parts of it I really liked, and parts I did not.

Let's start with what I didn't like. I found the pacing to be strange for Part 2 (in France). Even though Ilse is only there a month, she's apparently formed deep love connections in that short time, which I did not find believable. I particularly did not find her interactions with Frey believable at all, and honestly all of that could have been cut and it wouldn't have affected the story. I was getting a little weirded out with Ilse and Po's interactions, but what happens during her time in Provence tries to shed some light on that. (I don't want to say much more because of a spoiler, but I do include my thoughts on the spoiler on Goodreads.) Something else I didn't like was character names. So many starting with the letter M! I started to lose track of who was who. Same with I names, such as Ines and Ilse, or names with similar sounds like Ines and Agnes. Unless it's a plot point, which in this book it didn't seem to be, give us some varying names.

I did quite like the parts in Greenland, and the characters there. I felt those people were far more fully fleshed characters, I really got the sense of place. I liked the discussions of her work as a translator, this was for me the heart of the book. It just felt the middle, in France, really got in the way of the better part of the story, which was her life and the people in her life in Greenland. That was interesting to read, and why I kept with the book at the end. The title of book seems misleading to me in the end, because while sure, it's about her time in Provence, really, it's about her finding her way in Greenland. And that is what I enjoyed most about the book.

A Northern Light in Provence by Elizabeth Birkelund is a captivating and exquisitely crafted novel that delves into themes of self-discovery, the transformative nature of language, and the complexities of love. Set against the picturesque backdrop of Provence, this book offers a compelling exploration of the human experience. A wonderful summer read!

The book was lovely. I visited Provence in 1994 for my first time. The book brought back wonderful memories of that trip and the beauty of Provence. It also made me crave a visit to Greenland! The author does a great job of bringing both locations to life along with characters who you grow to love. I may have even gotten a little teary! Will definitely recommend this one! Thanks for the advance copy!

I think this is the first book set in Greenland I have ever read. I loved the landscape descriptions and place setting Birkelund does, but I found myself antsy to get to the Provenance and for the action to start in the book. The use of language was incredible, but it took too long for things to happen and I didn't love the third person narration. If you are looking for a slower read focused on place and language this might be for you.

Thank you to Netgalley & Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books for the advanced ready copy.

A translator is invited to France from Greenland to help an aging poet's work get translated. She discovers so much more.

Great book, really enjoyed the twists and turns that this took me on and I would definitely recommend to a friend.

This book was not for me. It took the book's first quarter for something other than exposition to happen. Once Ilse was in Provence, she was absolutely charmed and loved it. And then, it fell apart for me. The hint that the 74-year-old poet had romantic feelings for her after spending, at most, two days in her company was implausible to me. She described him as looking healthy and handsome. Within roughly a week, he is now haggard, racked with coughs, and wasting away. When Po's son comes, he seems to hate Ilse absolutely. Again, within two days, he is now enamored of her and cheating on his pregnant fiancee with her. That's a pretty quick turnaround.
Ilse herself is problematic for me. She didn't want Beluga until Val had him. Then, she went to bed with Frey. She was able to pick up her life in Greenland pretty well after that breakup. Well, now she's going back to France for Frey. Oh. All of a sudden, she realizes he's possessive and immature. Now, she's decided that Beluga is the one for her, after all, and France was a pipe dream. This woman doesn't seem invested in anything but what is right in front of her. The writing was well done, and the idea of the story is charming. But the relationships in the book just fell flat for me.