Lord Arne’s Silver
Translator: Sarah Death
Author: Selma Lagerlöf
Publisher: Norvik Press
Year of Publication: 2011
A haunting, sparingly-written tale set in the sixteenth century on the snowbound West Coast of Sweden, this is a classic from the pen of a Nobel-prizewinning author consummately skilled in the deployment of narrative power and ambivalence.
A story of robbery and murder, retribution, love and betrayal plays out against the backdrop of the stalwart fishing community in the West Coast archipelago. Young Elsalill, sole survivor of the mass killing in the home of rich Lord Arne, becomes a pawn in dangerous games both earthly and supernatural. As the deep-frozen sea stops the murderers escaping, the price that must be paid is sacrifice and atonement.