Portland Public Library

The prophets of eternal fjord, Kim Leine ; translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken

eng

no index present

fiction

The prophets of eternal fjord

891611178

Kim Leine ; translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken

The award-winning, internationally best-selling saga of a Greenlandic community torn apart by the forces of colonialism--appearing in English at last. Idealistic, misguided Morten Falck is a newly ordained priest sailing to Greenland in 1787 to convert the Inuit to the Danish church. A rugged outpost battered by unremittingly harsh winters, Sukkertoppen is simmering with the threat of dissent; natives from neighboring villages have unified to reject Danish rule and establish their own settlement atop Eternal Fjord. As Falck becomes involved with those in his care--his ambitious catechist, a lonely trader's wife, and a fatalistic widow he comes to love--his faith and reputation are compromised. The internationally acclaimed novelist Kim Leine charts the tragic events that connect these seemingly disparate lives, while illuminating the brutal and tender impulses of those seeking redemption and the shifting line between religion and mysticism. In the tradition of We, the Drowned, The Prophets of Eternal Fjord is rich in earthy detail and Dickensian pathos, a visceral panorama of a fragile colony caught in the throes of history. --, Provided by publisher