Woman at 1,000 Degrees by Halgrimur Helgason

Herbjorg Maria Bjornsson is an 80 year old woman living out her final days in a garage in Reykjavik Iceland.  Her days consist of pills, vitamins and seducing younger men over the internet.  It would be easy for her to be bitter especially since she has been cheated out of her money and is hardly ever visited by her sons and their families but she remains tough and tells us her story of survival during World War II.  Her mother was never really there for her and her dad decided that Hitler made sense leaving them in Denmark while her enlisted.  Herbjorg's experiences during the war started with her being left at a train station in Germany by her dad who had to get back to the war, told to wait for her mom who never came.  Years of fending for herself and being taken advantage of by everyone made her tough as nails and she traveled to several countries before coming home to Iceland.  The story is told journal style and it is a bit jumpy but that could be because it is a translation.  Her story will bring tears to the hardest of hearts.