"A woman leaves her coastal Greenland village to translate the works of a renowned Provençal poet and finds her life irrevocably changed, in this tender and romantic novel set in a French village.

“Big-hearted, whimsical, and enchanting.”—Christina Baker Kline, New York Times bestselling author of The Exiles

Ilse Erlund is a translator who lives in a house on stilts along the west coast of Greenland. Isolated and restless in her world by the sea, she convinces her publisher to pay for a trip to the country she has never visited but whose language she speaks fluently: France. Her mission is to translate the verses of Geoffrey “Po” Labaye, a charismatic poet known as “the last living troubadour of Provence.”

Upon arrival in the medieval hilltop village of Belle Rivière, Ilse falls under the spell of the Provençal way of life, captivated by the air, the sun, the vibrant spring colors, and the dulcet sounds of the dialect. Soon enough, Ilse is captivated by the poet, too, and she and Po develop a daily rhythm and warm camaraderie—which is disrupted by the arrival of the poet’s son, Frey. Though he has a fiancée back in Paris, Frey turns his attentions to Ilse, and suddenly she is forced to learn another language, one her translation skills have not prepared her to decode. Where—and with whom—does her future lie?

With an eye and ear attuned to the sensibilities of French life, Elizabeth Birkelund has created a love story about a woman forced to choose between the security of her quiet northern home and the possibility of the life of her dreams." Quoted from the book's Amazon sales page. The bulk of my review is in the "further comments" section below.

People who like emotional stories, travel stories, romance, and / or stories about writing and poetry.

Please see the "further comments" section below

Please see the "further comments" section below

Visit Provence

Please see the "further comments" section below

"About the author...
Elizabeth Birkelund

Elizabeth graduated from the Hewitt School in New York City, from Brown University with honors in Comparative literature, and from the Radcliffe Publishing Program. After college, she worked for a literary agent and was a member of the editorial staff for a start-up magazine, European Travel and Life. She began her fifteen-year freelance writing career as a monthly personal finance columnist for Cosmopolitan magazine, and has written for over fifteen publications, including Glamour, Self, Working Woman, Victoria. Her first novel, The Dressmaker, was published by Henry Holt & Co. in 2006, with a paperback Picador publication in 2007. It has been published in England in two versions, in Germany and in Russia. Her novel, The Runaway Wife, will be published by Harper Collins in July. She lives in New York City." Quoted from the book's Amazon sales page.

Please see the "further comments" section below, re: things I liked.

Please see the "further comments" section below, re: things I didn't like.

Parts of this book were simply exquisite to read. These parts made me feel all the feels and like I was part of the story and scenery. Some of the scenery descriptions were absolutely amazing to picture in my mind. There was one scene where I actually sobbed, and a few where I laughed.

However, the book took me quite a long time to get into. I borrowed this book from my local library and had to renew it to finish it.

It felt like this book had five parts.. 1) her in Greenland 2) her in Provence, fitting in and getting to know everyone, especially The Poet aka Po 3) falling in love with Provence and a spiritual love with someone 4) devastation - and the death scene that had me sobbing and dealing with the aftermath 5) her back in Greenland.

Part one was boring to me. Part two was interesting and got more interesting as it went along. Part three was a delight for me. Part four had me riveted and totally emotionally involved. Part five was interesting and I liked the ending, but it felt way too slow.

Am I glad I read the book? Yes. Do I plan to read her other two books? No. They aren't rated as well as this one. Would I read a new one by her if it were rated at least as well as this one? Maybe. Depends on where it's set and what the story is.

The book was 335 pages long and felt like it was almost double that. I think it could have been a lot tighter.

But I really did love seeing Provence through Ilse's eyes. And I loved seeing the world through Po's eyes. And (SPOILER don't read the rest of this paragraph if you don't want a spoiler!) I was glad that she finally saw Troy for the deeply caring man he was... but really, I could not relate to staying in Greenland. And I couldn't relate to the whole dynamic with her mother. I could see her staying in Greenland for her father (Fa) though.

The side characters in Greenland and many of the ones in Provence were fantastic, as were Ilse's character, Troy's, Po's, his sister's and almost every community member in Provence. I loved Val and was happy for her side story happiness. I wondered what would happen for Donny. I hoped something good.

So, overall, I'm glad I read the book. I'm also glad I took my time and didn't force myself to plod through the boring parts all together (I read other books in between reading this one, when this one got too boring to joyfully continue). I think I'll always remember Po's character and the feeling of joy in the sun in Provence.

How to rate it? That's the hardest part for me. I don't like assigning numbers but people want them. First, I'll share the current stats from Amazon, as of the afternoon of February 2, 2026, as I write this review:

"Best Sellers Rank: #378,312 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)

#2,154 in Women's Literary Fiction
#2,489 in Mothers & Children Fiction
#2,854 in Contemporary Literary Fiction"

Also as of that date/ time, the book averages 4.5 stars on Amazon and 4.0 stars on Goodreads. I wish I could give it 4.5 stars here. That feels more right than just 4 or all the way to 5. I think I will go with 4, but give it a five for setting (some of the setting descriptions / experiences were amazing) and characters though. It deserves that.

Interested in buying this? Support Writing.Com by making your purchase of A Northern Light in Provence: A Novel   from Amazon.Com!

Created Feb 02, 2026 at 4:33pm • Submit your own review...