Third volume in the Barrøy Chronicles, which began with International Booker-shortlisted The Unseen (April 2020 Indie Next, Powell's Indiespnsible pick, selected by book clubs at top indies, including Point Reyes), which sold over 2000 copies in the US in its first 90 days, and White Shadow (reviews in NYT, TLS, Daily Mail, Buzzfeed; Kirkus star; 1600 copies in first 90 days). Like the first two books, Rigel will feature Joe MacLaren's woodcut art on the cover and be printed with French flaps. Contemporary issues and debates: Rigel is the post-war, country-in-recovery look at WWII Norway, exploring the civilian cost of war and the natures of loyalty and nationalism, truth and fidelity, shame and blame, selfishness and generosity. editorial comps Genre: a Scandinavian picaresque, replete with comedy, in which the hero is a plucky single mother, the companion her babe in arms. It's a road trip and a quest, as sharply observed as the first two books, but with a new focus on the social world of the mainland. Can be read as a standalone volume, but to be followed by a fourth Barrøy novel. "As finely as Jacobsen captured the heavy expanse of time in his depiction of a remote island and remote family that hadn't changed in centuries, here his prose and storytelling is nimble and fleet, as free of the weight of Barrøy as Ingrid is . The lightness with which Eyes of the Rigel begins gradually becomes laden, the distance felt more, the weight of Ingrid's child with the Russian growing heavier and heavier.
From the outset, the Barrøy Chronicles have been concerned with how this island and its denizens are both a part of and apart from the wider world. Generational isolation and self-sufficiency carry with them their own mix of lightness and heaviness, as does incorporation, and this conflict is broad and alive in this third book." --Andrew Hood, The Bookshelf "Part of the beauty of this writing are the unexpected behaviors and the stoicism that had me rooting for Ingrid the entire book. You can read this series in any sequence you'd like, and I encourage you to give at least one title a try. I'm looking forward to what the next book reveals!" --Todd Miller, Arcadia Books "[T]he life of Ingrid Barrøy is another Norwegian story not to be missed. Ingrid journeys to find the father of her child and what an adventure. Though difficulties abound the Norwegian spirit is indomitable! I love to read about these characters as they are made of strong stuff and conquer any hardship. And the landscape comes alive under the pen of this masterful storyteller.
Great read!" --Stephanie Crowe, Page & Palette.