How do you win a game of 'die, pray, or marry' that you're not allowed to play?
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 derail 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 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.
