“Men search for energy in war and peace; life is sustained by the energy in ourselves and in nature, said the old man miserably.”

In an isolated place where nothing happens, rumors of struggles and strife in the surrounding world begin to filter through. Before long, the sequence of events has made its way there, and modernity arrives. The results are in equal measure unforeseen and dramatic. With unerring instinct, the author portrays a society at a crossroads, humanity’s unceasing struggle to survive, the grapple with ignorance and apathy, truth and lies, stupidity and greed.

Circumstances may change, yet history constantly repeats itself. Generations come and go, yet family patterns will not be ignored; we cannot escape ourselves.

• Nominated for the Icelandic Literary Prize
• Nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize 2016

“Bergsson‘s most compelling and remarkable book in a long time,
a book that induces the reader to further reflection, consideration
and analysis … An allegory of the Icelandic nation in the twentieth
century that contains many of theauthor‘s finest characteristics.”
FRETTABLADID DAILY