In this novel, the author describes the difficult relationship between a mother living alone with her teenage daughter and the young girl.

The text is integrating some elements of a road movie, because the protagonists are on a journey through Iceland from Reykjavík to the east coast.

This sounds a bit like a crime novel, but the author is more interested in the psychology of the relationship and in descriptions of Iceland's south and its nature, for example a sandstorm.

The woman is rather experienced and living in the High Society because of her family background, whereas her younger colleague is married and more concentrated on his work than she.

In 1998, the novel was turned into a film in France under the title Stolen Life directed by Yves Angelo.