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Reykjavík's Latin School in the 1880s is the arena. Its new master, the scholar Björn M. Ólsen, believes the country's future depends on drilling its boys with strictness and discipline. Facing him is the poet and teacher Benedikt Gröndal, a dreamer given to drink who has just resolved to mend his ways. When something happens at the school, the two men's ideals collide. Built on real people and events, the novel turns on power and class, guilt and punishment, courage, the role of a poet, and honour itself.

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About the book

Form

Novel

Length

175 pages in the original

Genres

Historical (assigned by AI)

Set in

Iceland, 1882

First published

2013 by JPV

Author's age

56 when first published

ISBN

9789935113962 (original)