Reading with Joachim B. Schmidt

The far north of Iceland at the turn of the century. There, Jón Magnússon Ósmann takes people, animals and goods across the waters of the Skagafjord with his cable ferry. He is a fisherman and seal hunter, he sees ghosts and elves, he is a philanthropist who feeds and shelters the needy, and he is a God-fearing drunkard and poet. Larger than life, strong, sociable and at the same time damaged by his own fate, so that the floods he has navigated for over forty years begin to lure him. A lively and almost unbelievable story based on a real life.

Joachim B. Schmidt, born in 1981, grew up in the Swiss canton of Graubünden, emigrated to Iceland in 2007. His novels are bestsellers and have received many awards, including the Crime Cologne Award and most recently the Glauser Prize. The dual citizen lives in Reykjavík with his wife and two children.