Eyes of the Rigel

Those of you (and there are many) who've encountered the previous volumes of the Barrøy Chronicles, The Unseen or White Shadow, will not need me to say anything about this new book other than It's here! Come buy it and read it! For those of you who aren't yet familiar with Roy Jacobsen's stories of the indefatigable Ingrid Barrøy and her clan: They're here! Come buy them and read them! Set during the middle decades of the 20th century and centered on a remote Norwegian island occupied by fishers and farmers, they're written with the terse directness of Hemingway (but without any of his outdated machismo), tracing the development of an entire society on an intimate, individual scale. A child opens her eyes to a life wider than her traditional family circle, a young woman feels the ripples of a world war lapping against her shore, and now a new mother must cope with aftermath of a conflict that's divided her nation. Jacobsen's novels are absolute bedrock for Madison Books, foundation stones on which our fiction collection is built. I said of the first of them that "I don't think I've ever read anything that better touched the essential truth of what it is to be alive," and that assessment has only been reinforced with each new release. (from the Madison Books newsletter)