Her fiction mixes overt political themes...with intimate subject matter ... Turbulent desire is all bound up too with creativity ... A comedy about pathetic mortals, viewed from above.
The narrative makes sparing, effective use of jumps in time to give a sense of the larger trajectory of Ida’s life. This device lends the novel perspective: Ida’s feelings shift, and she begins to envision a life beyond the endless circles of infatuation and abuse. Feverish and intoxicating, If Only is a novel about the depths of a life-altering devotion and the connections between love, creativity, and self-making.
Another crisp, cogent translation by Charlotte Barslund ... The beauty of If Only is in the way Hjorth underscores how often love and suffering are bedmates
Hjorth pushes this theme to its tragicomic limits ... Hjorth’s portrait of her heroine’s madness nearly always teeters towards comedy, which is one reason the book, though depicting suffering and shame, is such a pleasure to read.
