Summary

Independent People is set in Iceland in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It tells the story of Bjartur, a sheep farmer, and his obsessive struggle to become and remain financially independent at all costs. The story is told against a backdrop of a changing financial landscape across the country and the changes of the literal natural landscape of Bjartur’s farm.

Part 1, “Icelandic Pioneer”, begins with a chapter devoted to a mythical sorcerer named Kolumkilli. Chronicles of ancient Icelandic history state that Kolumkilli, an Irish invader, was driven out of Iceland by the arrival of Norse invaders. When he left, he placed a curse on the land to ensure that no one would ever prosper there. Later, a church was built in honor of Kolumkilli and the locals believed that the surrounding land and buildings were haunted by the sorcerer’s ghost...