The Blue Fox

"Sjón is a poet and novelist and his diverse body of work always encapsulates what he calls the ‘marvelous’ nature of Iceland and its history, in sparse and often humorous prose. The Nordic Council Literary Prize-winning The Blue Fox is a slim, dark and powerful work of magical realism which reads almost like a fable. It follows the obsessive quest of 19th-century pastor Baldur Skuggason through treacherous winter terrain to hunt down a wily and elusive blue fox for its fur. Intersecting with the hunt is an estate owner and naturalist Fríðrík Fríðjónsson, and his charge Abba, a girl with Down’s Syndrome who was rescued from a shipwreck years prior. The fates of all four characters are deeply and surprisingly intertwined. As the hunt progresses, Baldur’s inner life and cruelty is revealed through brushes with the fox’s mind and Fríðrík’s backstory, and ultimately a horrific truth is laid bare. I will always remember how haunted I was by this novel. Perhaps ‘haunted’ is not even the right word—the experience was so physical. Sjón is a master of deft and intricate plot strokes, playing with time as if it is a skein of yarn. And Sjón the poet shines in descriptions of the winter landscape, and the careful listening involved with the hunt: “The sun warms the man’s white body, and the snow, melting with a diffident creaking, passes for birdsong.”"