“Drawing on historical events, including King Olaf’s reign in Norway and the burning of Chartres Cathedral, Laxness revises and renews the bloody sagas of Icelandic tradition, producing not just a spectacular historical novel but one of coal-dark humor and psychological depth.” – Publishers WeeklyFirst published in 1952, Halldór Laxness’s Wayward Heroes offers an unlikely representation of modern literature. A reworking of medieval Icelandic sagas...

'Wildly original, morose, uproarious... It is also one of the funniest books ever written' Susan SontagA naive young man is sent by the bishop of Iceland to investigate a small town that has reportedly lost its faith. The church is boarded up and the errant pastor lives with a woman who is not his wife. He has also allowed a corpse to be lodged in the glacier. So the rumours go.What he discovers is a community that regards itself as the cen...

An intimate, magical novel about one enduring church in a rural Icelandic valley - an ode to a quiet way of life now lost to time foreverThe resting place of legendary Viking warrior Egil Skallagrímsson’s skull, Mosfell Church is a lonely, country church, fated to be destroyed. But as the plans to destroy it take shape, stories, myth and folklore abound in one magical last attempt to leave Mosfell standing.BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and capt...

The great Icelandic novel written by a Nobel prize-winner, this is a magnificent portrait of the eerie Icelandic landscape and one man's dogged struggle for independence.‘In Iceland it’s the canon, but to me it’s a cult classic’ Zadie Smith‘I defy anyone to finish Halldór Laxness's Independent People without wetting the pages with tears’ Jonathan Franzen‘Favourite book? Independent People… I love it...

*BY THE WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE*'Laxness at his best: a reminder of the mad hilarity of the Icelandic sensibility. An endearing and unforgettable voice' Nicholas ShakespeareAbandoned as a baby, Alfgrimur is content to spend his days as a fisherman living in the turf cottage outside Reykjavik with the elderly couple he calls grandmother and grandfather. There he shares the mid-loft with a motley bunch of eccentrics and philosophers who find r...

A new translation of Nobel Prize-winning author Halldór Laxness's masterpieceLate one snowy midwinter night, in a remote Icelandic fishing village, a penniless woman arrives by boat. She comes with her daughter, the young but gutsy Salka Valka. The two must forge a life in this remote place, where everyone is at the mercy of a single wealthy merchant, and where everything revolves around fish.After her mother's tragic death, Salka grows into a fiercely inde...

When the Americans make an offer to buy land in Iceland to build a NATO airbase after the Second World War, a storm of protest is provoked throughout the country. Narrated by a country girl from the north, the novel follows her experiences after she takes up employment as a maid in the house of her Member of Parliament. Her observations and experiences expose the bourgeois society of the south as rootless and shallow and in stark contrast to the age-old culture of the solid and less fancif...

*A brand new companion to the Last Kingdom series, Uhtred’s Feast, is available to pre-order now*Welcome to The Last KingdomDiscover the first book in the epic, bestselling series that has gripped millions.A hero will be forged from this broken land.In a land torn apart by conflict, an orphan boy has come of age. Raised by the Vikings, deadly enemies of his own Saxon people, Uhtred is a fierce and s...

The eighth book in the epic and bestselling series that has gripped millionsA hero will be forged from this broken land.As seen on Netflix and BBC around the world.In the battle for power, there can be only one ruler.The ruler of Mercia is dying, leaving no apparent heir. His wife is a born leader, but no woman has ever ruled over an English kingdom. And she is without her greatest warrior and champion, Uhtred of Bebbanburg....

*A brand new companion to the Last Kingdom series, Uhtred’s Feast, is available to pre-order now*The sixth book in the epic and bestselling series that has gripped millions. As seen on Netflix and BBC.The master of historical fiction presents the iconic story of King Alfred and the making of a nation.Alfred, the great king, is said to be dying. Rivals for his succession are poised to tear t...

*A brand new companion to the Last Kingdom series, Uhtred’s Feast, is available to pre-order now*The tenth book in the epic and bestselling series that has gripped millions.A hero will be forged from this broken land.As seen on Netflix and BBC around the world.From the day it was stolen from me I had dreamed of recapturing Bebbanburg. The great fort was built on a rock that was almost an island, it ...

*A brand new companion to the Last Kingdom series, Uhtred’s Feast, is available to pre-order now*BBC2 and Netflix series THE LAST KINGDOM is based on Bernard Cornwell’s bestselling novels on the making of England and the fate of his great hero, Uhtred of Bebbanburg. THE LORDS OF THE NORTH is the third book in the series.Uhtred wants revenge. He wants the land and castle that is his. He wants his treacherous uncle to pay for taking them.Head...