The Whispering Muse

WINNER OF THE SWEDISH ACADEMY'S NORDIC PRIZE 2023

'Funny, strange, provoking and disturbing; darkness with a light touch.' TLS

A master storyteller, Sjon weaves together Greek and Nordic myths with the legacies of the Second World War in this mesmerising novel, which reminds us that everything is capable of change.

Valdimar Haraldsson is an eccentric Icelander with dubious ideas about the relationship between fish consumption and Nordic superiority. To his delight, in the spring of 1949, he is invited to join a Danish merchant ship on its voyage to the Black Sea.

He is less delighted with the lack of fish on the menu. Worse, his fellow travellers show no interest in his 'Fish and Culture' lecture. They prefer the enthralling tales of the second mate, Caeneus, who every evening regales them with his adventures aboard the Argo, on Jason's legendary quest for the Golden Fleece.

“Funny, strange, provoking and disturbing; darkness with a light touch. - Times Literary Supplement 'Sjon pulls off the difficult task of creating an unboring bore with panache. Not only that, he allows a twist at the end that changes our perspective...He has changed the way I see things.' - A. S. Byatt, New York Review of Books 'Sublime . . . A work of coy humor and shape-shifting magic.' - Wall Street Journal A quirky, melodic, ticklish, seamlessly-translated, lovingly-polished gem of a novel. Sjon's work deserves space on any self-respecting bookshelf of European fiction. - David MitchellOnce again, Sjon has chosen an unusual subject, interwoven the fantastical with the ordinary, and produced a complex and strangely compelling work of fiction. - Huffington Post An extraordinary, powerful fable - a marvel. - Alberto Manguel”

Funny, strange, provoking and disturbing; darkness with a light touch. - Times Literary Supplement

A quirky, melodic, ticklish, seamlessly-translated, lovingly-polished gem of a novel. Sjon's work deserves space on any self-respecting bookshelf of European fiction. - David Mitchell

Once again, Sjon has chosen an unusual subject, interwoven the fantastical with the ordinary, and produced a complex and strangely compelling work of fiction. - Huffington Post

An extraordinary, powerful fable - a marvel. - Alberto Manguel

Born in Reykjavik in 1962, Sjon is the author of the novels The Blue Fox, The Whispering Muse, From the Mouth of the Whale, Moonstone and CoDex 1962, for which he has won several awards including the Nordic Council's Literature Prize and the Icelandic Literary Prize. He has also been shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, and his work has been translated into thirty-five languages.

In addition, Sjon has written nine poetry collections as well as four opera librettos and lyrics for various artists. He lives in Reykjavik, Iceland.

'Funny, strange, provoking and disturbing; darkness with a light touch.' TLS A master storyteller, Sjon weaves together Greek and Nordic myths with the legacies of the Second World War in this mesmerising novel, which reminds us that everything is capable of change. Valdimar Haraldsson is an eccentric Icelander with dubious ideas about the relationship between fish consumption and Nordic superiority. To his delight, in the spring of 1949, he is invited to join a Danish merchant ship on its voyage to the Black Sea. He is less delighted with the lack of fish on the menu. Worse, his fellow travellers show no interest in his 'Fish and Culture' lecture. They prefer the enthralling tales of the second mate, Caeneus, who every evening regales them with his adventures aboard the Argo, on Jason's legendary quest for the Golden Fleece.

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