"The first of an extraordinary trilogy" DANIEL MASON, author of North Woods

In a remote part of Iceland, a boy and his friend Bardur join a boat to fish for cod. A winter storm surprises them out at sea and Bardur, who has forgotten his waterproof as he was too absorbed in 'Paradise Lost', succumbs to the ferocious cold and dies. Appalled by the death and by the fishermen's callous ability to set about gutting the fatal catch, the boy leaves the village, intending to return the book to its owner.

The extreme hardship and danger of the journey is of little consequence to him - he has already resolved to join his friend in death. But once in the town he immerses himself in the stories and lives of its inhabitants, and decides that he cannot be with his friend just yet.

Set at the turn of the twentieth century, Heaven and Hell is a perfectly formed, vivid and timeless story, lyrical in style, and as intense a reading experience as the forces of the Icelandic landscape themselves. An outstandingly moving novel.

About the Author
Jon Kalman Stefansson's novels have been nominated three times for the Nordic Council Prize for Literature and his novel Summer Light, and then Comes the Night received the Icelandic Prize for Literature in 2005. In 2011 he was awarded the prestigious P.O. Enquist Award. He is perhaps best known for his trilogy - Heaven and Hell, The Sorrow of Angels (longlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize) and The Heart of Man (winner of the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize) - and for Fish Have No Feet (longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize 2017).

Reviews
'A glinting treasure' Der Spiegel. * Der Spiegel *
'An outstanding narrative ... like a long breath from the depths of the sea' Nils C. Ahl, Le Monde. * Nils C. Ahl, Le Monde *
'The author has a lyrical, poetic style ... the action unfolds vividly and dramatically, and the reader feels part of the scene. The combination creates an unusually intense reading experience' Alannah Hopkinson, Irish Examiner. * Irish Examiner *



Book Information
ISBN 9781849164061
Author Jon Kalman Stefansson
Format Paperback
Page Count 224
Imprint MacLehose Press
Publisher Quercus Publishing
Weight(grams) 162g
Dimensions(mm) 197mm * 133mm * 15mm