The Blue Fox

Winner of the Nordic Council Literature Prize 'Enchantingly poetic . . . spellbinding . . . magical . . . exceptional' Independent The year is 1883. The stark Icelandic winter landscape is the backdrop. We follow the priest, Skugga-Baldur, on his hunt for the enigmatic blue fox. From there we're transported to the world of the naturalist Fridrik B. Fridriksson and his charge, Abba, who suffers from Down's syndrome, and who came to his rescue when he was on the verge of disaster. Then to a shipwreck off the Icelandic coast in the spring of 1868. The fates of all these characters are intrinsically bound and gradually, surprisingly, unravelled in this spellbinding fable that is part mystery, part fairy tale.

Born in Reykjavík in 1962, Sjón is the author of the novels The Blue Fox, The Whispering Muse, From the Mouth of the Whale, Moonstone and CoDex 1962, for which he has won several awards including the Nordic Council's Literature Prize and the Icelandic Literary Prize. He has also been shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, and his work has been translated into thirty-five languages. In addition, Sjón has written nine poetry collections as well as four opera librettos and lyrics for various artists. He lives in Reykjavík, Iceland.