Moonstone - The Boy Who Never Was (2013)

The year is 1918 and from Reykjavik the erupting volcano Katla can be seen colouring the sky night and day. Life in the small capital carries on as usual despite the natural disaster, shortage of coals and the Great War that still wages in the big world. The sixteen year old Mani Steinn lives for the movies. Asleep he dreams the pictures in variations where the tapestry of events is threaded with strands from his own life. Awake he lives on the outskirts of society. But then the “Spanish influenza” epidemic comes ashore and forces thousands of the townspeople into the sick bed, killing hundreds. The shadows of existence deepen. The black wings in Mani Steinn‘s breast beat faster. A chilling draught blows between the worlds in a place where life and death, reality and imagination, secrets and revelations jostle for dominance. • The Icelandic Literary Prize 2013 • DV Cultural Prize for Literature 2013 • The Icelandic Booksellers‘ Prize 2013 • The Red Feather for the most curious sex scene in Icelandic literature 2013 • Nominated for the PEN America Literary Awards 2016 • Nominated for the Best Translated Book Award (BTBA) 2017 (US) • Listed as One of the Best Novel of the Year in US 2016 by Financial Times • 29th Anual Lambda Literary Award Finalist 2017 • Selected as one of the best Contemporary Scandinavian Literature 2017 by Booker International shortlistee Dorthe Nors • Nominated for the Dublin Literary Award 2018