A Northern Light in Province by Elizabeth Birkelund ⭐⭐⭐⭐

After her brother dies Ilse isolates herself from everyone in her little cabin in Greenland. Till one day when the opportunity presents her from stepping outside her comfort zone and move to France, and the best part is its paid for by her publisher to translate for a poet. She soon finds herself living again and enjoying life, even opens her heart to Frey who happens to have a fiancee.
Pre-order your copy today and follow along on her journey and she must decide to return to her security or follow her heart and dreams.

A New author for me and I really enjoyed her writing and looking forward to discovering me. Im very thankful to NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to discover new genres and authors by reading and reviewing books.

This a beautifully written book about so many things: self-discovery, the beauty of travel, the love of language and more. The author's descriptive writing about the differences in color and light between Greenland and Provence was exquisite. I found this a powerful and lovely story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!
What a lovely heartwarming story. I loved the beautiful picture the author drew here of the main characters life and struggles and how her experience in France changes her.

Isle Eklund lives in the cold and frozen, isolated Greenland. She translates books from French and Danish to English. She lives in an isolated cabin where she locks herself away with only daily visits to local cafe. It has been her refuge since her brother died. Isle’s one desire is to visit France, to the country of the language she loves.
Given the opportunity to translate a Provence troubadour poet’s work, Isle bravely requests two weeks there to learn the nuances of his words.
In Provence amid vibrant colors and a more vibrant language, she comes alive, warmed by the sun and the poet.
This is the story of a lonely isolated woman seeing life from a truly colorful perspective. The words on the page will draw you into another world as seen through Isle’s eyes.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you've never been anywhere and feel like you're stuck - you might understand a little of what it feels like to be our heroine Ilse feels. Having always lived in her home on the windswept coasts of Greenland, adventure feels far away. Jumping at an opportunity to expand her life professionally and personally, she convinces her boss to sponsor her trip to France to translate the work of a French poet.

Upon arrival, as anyone who remembers their first real travel experience (and I'm not talking about a cruise or somewhere you popped in for the weekend.. ) the true romance of this story to me was about falling in love with life's potential. Ilse gets her first taste of what it feels like to be free from expectations, and free to explore, make mistakes and try new things.

THOUGHTS:
- One of the other aspects I loved is being forced to examine what love really looks like after it's built under idyllic settings. With Frey having a fiance back in Paris.. the deepening of their relationship is scary but also freeing in a way.

**Thank you to Ballantine Books & NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. I received this book for free, but all thoughts are my own. – SLR 🖤

The story of Ilse traveling, for the first time in her life, from her home in Greenland to Provence was enchanting. Coming from a cold and colorless place, Ilse finds herself suddenly in a whole new world. As she sets out to translate the poetry of Geoffrey Labaye, she quickly becomes entwined with his life and that of his family and friends. Soon she is extending her stay in France longer and longer. And you just want to stay there with her.

“A Northern Light in Provence” is by Elizabeth Birkelund. It’s difficult for me to categorize this book. My summary of this story would be there’s a woman living in Greenland who feels alone and knows it and is okay with it, then there’s her discovering on a work trip to Provence, France that life doesn’t need to be as lonely as she thinks it might be, who then returns to Greenland and realizes, like Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz” that maybe “home” isn’t as bad as she first thought it was initially. Yes, there’s more to the story than that, but I’d recommend reading the book (or looking at others’ reviews) for the full detailed story. What I liked about this book were the descriptions of Greenland and of Provence - the difference in light, in people, in the landscape - they were lovingly described in rich prose. I also liked that Ms. Birkelund didn’t take the easy way out regarding the romance (I saw it going in a number of different directions). On that note, though, I must admit that I did not like Frey’s storyline or, actually, him. At times the pacing of this book seemed slow to build-up, but I’m not quite sure what I’d cut (maybe some of the repeated information regarding both villages?). I’d recommend this book to those who like travel, self-discovery, language, and prose writing.

This was different than what I expected and I wasn’t sure if this book was for me after the first few chapters. But then it transformed when Ilse arrived in Provence, just like she transformed. This is a book about needing to experience outside of the life you’re told to lead, and finding happiness within. This may not be the book for everyone but it’s a pleasant surprise if given the chance.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

Not as light as I thought this read would be, but lovely never-the-less. Kind of a deep story but loved it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

After many years of dreaming about spending time in France, Ilse dreams comes true. Ilse is a translator of books and she gets the opportunity to go to Provence France to meet the poet who's work she is translating and that exchange changes her perceptions.
I found myself very involved in the story from the beginning, I like the characters in the story and how they cared and treated each other well. I loved experiencing how Ilse became excited about leaving Greenland and going to Provence France. How feeling the weather, enjoying the food and meeting the people had Ilse blossom and feeling elated. I love how Po and Ilse help each other with the lost of loved ones and how Po taught Ilse all about France and what was important in life. I loved all of the dogs and wonder what happen to Tang. I loved the village experience and how the village included Ilse in their way of life and made her one of them.
The one part of the story that threw me was when Ilse had decided to go to France to be with Frey, Po's son, but then changed her mind and stay in Greenland because she realized that Frey wasn't for her and that what she really wanted was already in Greenland, that was nice.
This is book is very easy to read and is very enjoyable and I wish it was longer.
I want to thank Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books and NetGalley for an advance copy of this wonderful journey from Greenland to France and back.

Ilse was so relatable. Feeling stuck and wanting more is something I think we can all identify with.This is definitely a character driven book, and I think that could be a problem for some.

For me, I enjoy it. I love getting deep with our characters and deep into our setting too. This book was beautiful and descriptive in the best way.

Ilse is a translator who lives a very insular life in Greenland. When she gets the opportunity to visit France for the first time, her world broadens in many ways.

Some of the story felt haphazard or rushed. I'm not sure what the ultimate message was, because the shift at the end confused me.

Isle Erlund is a Greenlandic translator who gets a translating job in Provence, France.

I was initially drawn in by the book description. I haven’t read many (any?) books set in Greenland. However, the execution was choppy and flat for me. I wanted the setting and characters of Under the Tuscan Sun meets A Year in Provence and I just didn’t get that. I also hated Frey as a character and plot point. Are we supposed to?

Thank you to Random House Publishing and Ballantine Books for this digital copy to review.

I love character driven books, and this one was a great one.
In this novel we follow Ilse Lund a Greenlander woman who is a translator in English French and Danish, and who is asked to translate a book of poems by “Geoffrey Labaye, an elderly poet known as “the last living troubadour of Provence.”
Ilse has always wanted to go to France as this is a language that she admires the most. But she feels she need to go to Provence to really get the feelings of the poems, and the man that has written them, as they are written for the most part, in a Provencal dialect.
She convinces her publisher to pay for a trip to work with the poet, as this job has a tight deadline.
Once there Ilse falls in love with the area, and she and the poet become very close and work well together.
I love how she worked so hard at getting to know him as a person, so that she would be able to not only translate the words of the poems, but also the feelings he felt when writing them.
A beautifully written book, with many things that will want you to keep reading.
There are a whole group of characters from France to Greenland, that add to the back and future of the story.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for a copy of this book.

I throughly enjoyed this story. It took me a little bit to get into the writing style, but by chapter 3, I was hooked! I laughed, I cried, and I learned a little French. This story is very language heavy, but that fits with the story so well.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love this novel. The poetry and descriptions of the scenes are beautifully written I was thrilled with the empowering ending.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!

I was engrossed in this love story from the very start. This story is beautifully written with lyrical descriptions throughout. It's emotion filled--I laughed, I cried, I enjoyed. I was able to imagine what the inhabitants in a small place in Greenland were like as well as the people in a small Provencal village in France. I liked the main character as well as the other characters throughout. This was an enjoyable read, and I highly recommend it. Thank you, NetGalley, and the publisher for the advanced reader's edition.

The synopsis of this book sounded interesting. The writing of this book was not. I read the first half of the book and it was filled with so much irrelevant description that I just could not continue and decided to not finish. I very rarely don't finish a book but there are so many books and so little time.

I have read books that epitomize the power and magic of words/language, but I am not sure if I have ever read a book that reflects the beauty of words/language so successfully.

Ilse is a native of Greenland, part Inuit and part Danish. She also has an ear for languages and in addition to speaking the local Inuit language and Danish, she speaks English and French. In fact, she has made a career translating French books into English. However, she has never been to France (or even ever left Greenland). When asked to translate the poetry of the last living troubadour in Provence, Ilse fears she is in over her head, especially as it requires understanding the Provençal dialect, which she does not. She convinces her editor that she needs to travel to France and meet the poet in order to do justice to the translation.

Visiting France is an amazing and, in some ways, overwhelming experience, so different from her isolated life in a remote arctic village. Ilse and Geoffrey Labaye (Po) quickly develop a connection rooted in their mutual love of words and the deeper meaning that the right words can convey. Being in France and working with Po to translate his poetry opens Ilse up to a new understanding of herself. For Po, Ilse helps bring light into his life; Po appears to have a good life filled with joy and dear relationships (family and friends), but his personality masks the inner darkness of the loss of his wife five years ago, as well as the estrangement of his son.

Ilse's translation of Labaye's poetry will be much more successful than she ever expected, but more importantly, the time in Provence with Po, Agnes, Frey and others, results in a translation in Ilse's life. She has been profoundly changed by her time in Provence, and events at home will force her to re-evaluate what and who she wants.

Beautifully written, this is a wonderful story which hits all the marks of a heartwarming romance.

Ilse Erlund lives in a small cottage in Greenland north of the Artic Circle where there is frequent downpours of rain and bitter winds. It requires several layers of clothes even while she sleeps. There is danger where she lives with floating sheets of ice and the sea rising which is practically on her door step.

Yet, she dismisses the extreme cold when she is enjoying the beauty of the northern lights, stunning rainbows and watching the humpback whales. She lives with an adoring cat while translating books from English to French or French to English.

While she has received praise for her work, she has never translated a poem and never been to France – which has been a faraway dream until now. She will be under a strict deadline of 2 ½ months to translate a collection of poems. Ilse convinces her publisher to send her to Provence for two weeks so she can meet with the poet and understand his feelings and thoughts. She is ecstatic.

France is a large culture shock and she stumbles but manages just fine. It feels like a travel journey of sorts with the adventure as she finds herself eating warm rolls and magnificent food and drinks. Then it turns into a love story with unexpected twists.

The book is filled with tender poems that come from the heart and make you pause. The poet goes by: Po. He’s an older man but has a way of bringing new experiences to her that helps her to translate his work perfectly.

There was much to love: the characters, the original plot and the easy flow of the words. I thought I could predict what would happen. I was surprised by the ending. It’s satisfying in its own way.

My thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of May 21, 2024.