If you don't write your story, they will.
Iceland, 1920. Gunnar, a hermit blacksmith, dwells with his animals, darkness, and moonshine. The last thing he wants is an injured lodger, but his money may change Gunnar's life. So might the stranger's story ? by ending it. That is, unless an unwanted marriage, God's messengers' sudden interest, an obnoxious elf, or his doctor's guilt change the narrative. Or will the demons from Gunnar's past cut all the stories short?
Side effects of too much truth include death, but one's true story is another's game of lies. With so many eager to write his final chapter, can Gunnar find his own happy ending?
Bjørn Larssen's award-winning, best selling novel is an otherworldly, emotive Icelandic saga ? a story of love and loneliness, relief and suffering, hatred... and hope.
"These strange, sad, funny, murderous people will stay with me for a long time." ? Annie Whitehead, author of The Sins of the Father
Eric Hoffer Grand Prize Award ? Finalist
Readers' Favorite Gold Medal ? Historical Fiction
Discovered Diamond ? Winner
Note: British English conventions, spelling, and grammar were used in this book.
The author is an ex-blacksmith, lover of all things Icelandic, physically located in Amsterdam, spiritually living in a log cabin near Akureyri. He has published stories and essays in Polish and American magazines, both online and in print. This is his first novel.
Klappentext
Would you murder your brothers to keep them from telling the truth about themselves?
On a long, cold Icelandic night in March 1920, Gunnar, a hermit blacksmith, finds himself with an unwanted lodger - Sigurd, an injured stranger who offers a story from the past. But some stories, even those of an old man who can barely walk, are too dangerous to hear. They alter the listeners' lives forever… by ending them.
Others are keen on changing Gunnar's life as well. Depending on who gets to tell his story, it might lead towards an unwanted marriage, an intervention, rejoining the Church, letting the elf drive him insane, or succumbing to the demons in his mind. Will he manage to write his own last chapter?
Bjørn Larssen's award-winning novel is an otherworldly, emotive Icelandic saga - a story of love and loneliness, relief and suffering, hatred… and hope. "Addictive to the extreme. I cannot praise this book enough." - Mary Anne Yarde, Coffee Pot Book Club
"...the 'then' is just as captivating as the 'now' story. We know that the 'then' story is setting out little clues, but it's hard to know what they are." - #DDRevs Historical Fiction Reviews Eric Hoffer Grand Prize Award - Finalist Readers' Favorite Gold Medal - Historical Fiction Discovering Diamonds' Discovered Diamond Winner Coffee Pot Book Club Historical Fiction (Modern) Book of the Year - Finalist Readers' Choice Best Cover Award Winner Note: British English conventions, spelling, and grammar were used in this book. The author is an ex-blacksmith, lover of all things Icelandic, physically located in Amsterdam, spiritually living in a log cabin near Akureyri. He has published stories and essays in Polish and American magazines, both online and in print. This is his first novel.