Independent people

A novel by an Icelandic Nobel Prizewinner, about a sheep farmer who wantsonly to be an independent man. When his daughter expresses her own needsfor independence, the battle of wills that results is both harsh andpoignant. Brad Leithauser writes in his introduction: "I finished its lastchapters one late afternoon in Rome, seated in an all-but-desertedcafé....I read as though furtively, hunched over the pages. I did this fortwo reasons. The light had turned dim. And I didn't want anyone to notice Iwas steadily weeping."