Alma Khan doesn’t know why she, a nineteen year-old employee in a greenhouse in Hellisheidi heath, has been offered a job in the private greenhouse of the world-famous botanist Dr. Olga Ducaróva. But she suspects it might have something to do with her grandmother Kria, who knows Ducaróva from their infamous expedition to Mars. When Alma meets the mysterious Indra, her life is turned irrevocably upside down.

The year is 2096 and nature is unpredictable. The old low-lying city center has been fenced off and rotting houses lean along the shoreline. One of the houses is owned by Alma’s grandmother, and no one understands why it is so important to her.

The Witch is the sequel to The Lion, published in 2018. The Lion was awarded the Reykjavík Children’s Literature Prize 2019 for best original work and nominated for the Icelandic Literary Prize for Best Children’s and YA Book 2019.

Awards and nominations

• Awarded the Icelandic Bookseller’s Prize for best YA Book 2019

• Nomination for the Icelandic Literary Prize for Best Children’s and YA Book 2019

Reviews

“An enjoyable and exciting book that presents an interesting – but at times scary – vision of the future.“
Brynhildur Björnsdóttir / Fréttablaðið

“The inventiveness, imagination and the vision of the future demonstrated in The Witch, it is evident that Hildur is without doubt among the very best contemporary YA-writers.“
Erla María Markúsdóttir / Morgunblaðið