Jón Kalman Stefánsson's poetic, elemental yet modern Icelandic family saga spans the whole of Iceland's 20th-century history. Translated by Phil Roughton.

Keflavik: a town that has been called the darkest place in Iceland, surrounded by black lava fields, hemmed in by a sea that may not be fished, its livelihood dependant entirely on a US military base. Two years after walking out on his wife and children, Ari is back in Keflavik, summoned there from Copenhagen by a dying father. He is beset by memories of his youth. The music. The girls. There is one girl in particular he could never forget - her fate has stayed with him all his life.

Longlisted
The Man Booker International Prize 2017
Published by
MacLehose Press
Publication date
Jón Kalman Stefánsson

Jón Kalman Stefánsson

About the Author

Jón Kalman Stefánsson was born in Reykjavík in 1963.
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Philip Roughton

Philip Roughton

About the Translator

Philip Roughton was born in the US in 1965 and now lives in Iceland.
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