The Mark

'Searingly brilliant . . . like George Orwell and Anthony Burgess before her, lets the dystopian ironies speak for themselves.' TLS 'Absolutely stunning.' HERNAN DIAZ 'A masterpiece.' KAVEH AKBAR A debut novel of urgent big ideas imbued with pacy plotting and atmospheric power, by an exciting new talent. The Icelandic Psychological Association has prepared a test. They call it a sensitivity assessment: a way of measuring a person's empathy and identifying the potential for anti-social behaviour. In a few days' time, Iceland will vote on whether to make the test compulsory for every citizen. The nation is bitterly divided. Some believe the test makes society safer; others decry it as a violation. As the referendum draws closer, four people - Vetur, Eyja, Tristan and Ólafur - find themselves caught in the teeth of the debate. Each of them will have to reckon with uncomfortable questions: Where do the rights of society end and the rights of the individual begin? When does utopia become dystopia? No matter which side wins, they will all have to find a way to live with the result.

Fríða Ísberg is an Icelandic author based in Reykjavík. Her books are the poetry collections Stretch Marks and Leather Jacket Weather, the short story collection Itch and the novel The Mark, which won the Fjara Literature Prize, The Icelandic Booksellers Award, the P.O. Enquist Award. Ísberg is the 2021 recipient for The Optimist Award, awarded by the President of Iceland to one national artist. Her work has been translated into 17 languages.