The Sinner was published in two parts. The first part was published as The Painter in 2012, and the second part as The Sinner in 2015. The combined volume bears the name of the second part.
The first part of this saga describes the life of David Thorvaldsson, a well-known and successful painter who has never the less compromised his art to gain popularity among the general public. His colleague Illugi Arinbjarnar goes out of his way to jeer at him and point this out. A horrible accident for which David may or may not be responsible casts a dark shadow on his family life.
In part two, Illugi Arinbjarnar, at the peak of his career, has taken New York by storm with his enormous canvases in the style of the old masters, depicting the German invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II. He sets himself up in one of Reykjavik’s most handsome houses, the former city library, to paint pictures of the White Cossacks’ collaboration with the Germans and the genocide they suffered as a consequences. But then his fortune takes a turn for the worse.
The Sinner is an eventful and gripping family saga encompassing many characters, great passions, and conflict set in the last decades of the twentieth century; people’s fates interweave unpredictably in a story that is at times both thrilling and disturbing. Olafur Gunnarsson has the ability to gaze into the darkest recesses of the human soul without flinching and without judging.
R E V I E W S
FOUR AND A HALF STARS OUT OF FIVE
“[Readers] can look forward eagerly to the stirring experience of reading this highly moving book. [Olafur has] that rare ability to tell powerful tales and mould protagonists who hold the reader captive from beginning to end … The story is told in low key, free of histrionics, even though characterised from page one by dramatic events and steadily growing suspense. The reader’s excitement also grows until every last bit of the book is consumed, and is left thinking: what a story! Such masterpieces are rare, and you should prepare to be disappointed on reading your next volume of the Christmas harvest.”
Bogi Thor Arason, Morgunbladid daily
FOUR STARS OUT OF FIVE
“The Painter is a novel of varied crime, betrayal, fraud and murder, at times horribly exciting. As the characters are portrayed, the reader can scarcely help but care about their fate … The Painter is an excellent example of Olafur’s narrative skill at its best.”
Jon Yngvi Johannsson, Frettabladid daily
“A finely crafted book, both enjoyable and with the drama slyly added … A powerful book.”
Kolbrun Bergthorsdottir, Kiljan, National TV
“Biblical in scale … anyone entering the train of events will follow it to the last drop of blood.”
Eirikur Gudmundsson, Kiljan, National TV
“Unexpected twists and turns that grip you to the end.”
Egill Helgason, Kiljan, National TV
“A thrilling and dramatic tale which holds you in its clutches as you turn page after page engrossed … What happens next?”
Ingvi Thor Kormaksson, bokmenntir.is
“A top class thriller with an unexpected ending.”
Sigrun Tholl, pjattrofurnar.is
“The epilogue neatly ties up the threads of the story, turning it into a masterpiece.”
Hjalti Hugason, Hugras
“The Sinner is written with immense energy and the confidence of the seasoned novelist…”
Einar Karason, DV newspaper
“… the text is sophisticated and well-crafted from beginning to end … Gunnarsson has taken great pains with this book, in his use of language as well as the plot. Gunnarsson is a real writer … I have read a few of his books before, such as The Axe and the Earth. This one is even more phenomenal.”
Svavar Gestsson
