Heiða, A Shepherd at the Edge of the World - A Book Review
Heida, A Shepherd at the Edge of the World (non-fiction)
Author: Steinunn Sigurdardottir
www.johnmurraypress.co.uk
This is a book review of Heida, A Shepherd at the Edge of the World.
Written by Steinunn Sigurdardottir, this is a very personal memoir of Heiða Guðný Ásgeirsdóttir, a strong, independent sheep farmer who becomes a reluctant hero when she is thrust into environmentalist politics by opposing the construction of a large hydroelectric dam in her remote Icelandic community.
Born in 1978, Heiða Guðný Ásgeirsdóttir was raised on her parent's sheep farm called Ljótarstaðir in southern Iceland. A tall Nordic beauty, she worked as a fashion model in New York until she was 23, when her father could no longer manage the farm. After his death, she took over the family farm and has lived there ever since with her mother and her beloved dogs.
She has made many upgrades and improvements to the farm to make it a very successful operation, albeit still vulnerable to weather, disease and accidents. She has also worked in construction and as a local police officer, and is on the board of the nearby Vatnajökull National Park.
Heiða came to be much in demand for her skills in sheep shearing and pregnancy scanning - critical to flock management. Holding a writhing animal while shaving it requires strength and skill - kind of a cross between a barbershop and a rodeo. In February 2017 she was the only female contestant at the World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships in New Zealand.
Shearing sheep is a cross between a barbershop and a rodeo.
Sheep farming is incredibly hard work in difficult conditions. Never self-pitying, Heiða is clearly very tough and driven by her passion for farming. She works for 364 days a year in fierce weather, tackling all tasks fearlessly, whether it's finding lost lambs, repairing her tractor or nailing down a barn roof blown off by a snowstorm.
This book goes into the unexpectedly fascinating and sometimes gory details of sheep farming. She describes lambing (birthing) as a 'third rate horror movie'. She truly loves her sheep and treats them humanely. Her pain and sadness are evident when she has to euthanize an animal.
A self-professed gear-head, she relies on her quad bike and snowmobile for travelling her 16,000 acre farm, and she like to listen to hard rock in her tractor. A lover of poetry, the book is sprinkled with her favourite Icelandic verses and original poems she wrote, both achingly beautiful and funny. She even wrote a love poem to her new motorcycle.
Candid and self-reflective, she briefly muses on the cultural expectations of women. In Iceland, girls' surnames are derived from the father's given name and the appendix dóttir (daughter). She describes the pressure to marry - and she has had many proposals from men. She is happy with her close friendships, her mother and sisters, her dogs and of course her beloved sheep. You will find no regret in this book about her life choices.
Over time, Heiða has come to be a well-known and respected member of a male-dominated farming community. She is skilled, fiercely self-reliant and always ready to help out a neighbour. In fact it would be impossible to run such a large farming operation without the cooperation between farmers at critical points in the year.
Farmers in this remote community are always ready to come to each other's aid for many tasks, from shearing to mending buildings after a storm. This sense of teamwork and mutual support, along with her love of the land, has shaped her political views.
The Fight of Her Life
Iceland's primary power sources are hydro and geothermal. A massive hydroelectric project to construct a dam would effectively destroy hectares of land and the river that crosses her property, which would impact the entire valley. The book contains some details of her political and legal fight with the power company, particularly a personal one with a smarmy lawyer who spent years worming his way into the community, only to be rebuffed by her again and again. She refused an enormous amount of money for her land, as did most of her neighbours, no doubt influenced by Heiða's stubbornness.
Spoiler: The land affected by the proposed power plant has been designated a protected area, for now. Heiða is cautiously optimistic that Iceland parliament will not overturn this ruling.
I was expecting this book included more intrigue about her political fights and her time as a member of the parliament, but this is only one facet of her identity and treated like another challenge to be overcome. This memoir is about her life, her values and worldview. She doesn't want to be defined by her political struggles with the corporations and politicians, for which you can read her obvious contempt.
I enjoyed reading this memoir - it is a well written account of an extraordinary person doing seemingly impossible things. I picked up this book in the Reykjavik airport after my recent trip to Iceland filled me with curiosity about this fascinating island, its otherworldly landscapes and progressive, intelligent people.
At the height of her struggle with the power company, Heiða put up a sign in her home that read: "Stand up for what is right, even if you stand alone."
In a world of shallow global celebrity, Heiða is a minor local celebrity, for the best reasons: her heart, energy and character.