The Greenlanders
by Jane Smiley
Buy on AmazonSet in medieval Greenland, this novel recounts the history of a community plagued with rivalries and feuds, famines and battles with Eskimos. Although the story centres on a woman's struggle in exile, the main theme of the book is the decay and ultimate destruction of a way of a civilization.
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"And yet some of my all-time favorite novels are historical — “The Greenlanders” (Jane Smiley), “The Blue Flower” (Penelope Fitzgerald) and “War and Peace.”"
By the Book: Jonathan Franzen · nytimes.com