This tale starts with the seemingly tragic death of a young boy, who falls to his death from a snowy rooftop. His friend, Smilla, becomes convinced of foul play and begins an epic quest to uncover the truth. The book is brilliantly written, with many gems of knowledge and Greenlandic lore stuffed into its pages. As crystalline and delicately enchanting as a snowflake, and the character of Smilla is one of the best realisations of a strong female in a thriller novel I have ever read. An amazing book.

I know this is a long time after the original review but I must comment. I read this book after a recommendation (2 in fact). I have to say I found it difficult to wade through and wondered whether the two people who'd recommended it had read it in a different language. There are some very neat ideas but really I would not recommend it to a general reader.

All I can add here, is that I read this book quite a few years ago now and LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it. Not a very erudite review, but a heart-felt one!

Reading whyteriter's comment. I've not read this but our cat is called Smilla (from the book) and my boyfriend tells me on good account that the title actually in Danish reads as "Smilla's sense of snow." More of the meaning of having another 'sense' (such as touch, sight etc..) I believe the writer lived in Denmark, Greenlandic by birth.

Ultimately they had trouble translating the title into anything that sounds 'english' so could be that some people would have similar problems with the text. Saying that it's supposed to be an immensely popular work.

I loved this book.

The relationship between Smilla and the young boy is beautifully observed and it is just such a powerful story.

It's unusual and lingers in the mind and I found it very accessible.

Sarah