‘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.
