Blessed with an ear for music and a fine voice, Baldur finds his ­fortune but not his love. ­Smitten at an early age, Baldur is ­haunted by Lara—a girl of fey spirit destined to be both his muse and ­tormenter. The ­daughter of an ­intimidating and well-connected ­businessman, Lara leads Baldur from the small Manitoba ­community of New ­Iceland to the bustling streets of ­early twentieth-century Winnipeg. Along the way Baldur is ­befriended by a young Johnny Ashdown and together they ­cash in on the boom days of Canada’s early west.

In this modern Icelandic saga, Baldur is ­buffeted by chance and opportunity in a ­competitive, ­unforgiving new world, seeking his one true love.

David Arnason was born in Gimli, Manitoba, in 1940. He has a Master’s Degree from the University of Manitoba and a PhD from the University of New Brunswick. He divides his time between Winnipeg, where he teaches Canadian literature and creative writing at the University of Manitoba, and Gimli, where he does most of his writing. He has also taught Canadian literature and creative writing in Tasmania, Trier, and Strasbourg.His works include two collections of poetry, Marsh Burning and Skrag, and four collections of short stories: Fifty Stories and a Piece of Advice, The Circus Performer’s Bar, The Happiest Man in the World, and The Pagan Wall.

David Arnason's profile page

• Short-listed, Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award
• Short-listed, Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction
• Short-listed, Margaret McWilliams Award

"The tone swings between light-hearted comedy and sombre drama, and the novel both mourns and celebrates the lives of the early Icelandic settlers...Arnason's writing is clear and crisp (and) will satisfy readers who want a moving, engrossing novel... he describes Winnipeg as it must have seemed through the eyes of its early entrepreneurs."

The Winnipeg Free Press