A woman leaves her coastal Greenland village to translate the works of a renowned Proven al poet and finds her life irrevocably changed, in this tender and romantic novel set in a French village.
"A charming and beautifully written novel about self-discovery, the power of language, and yes, love!"-Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants
" An enchanting tale of love and loss in exotic Greenland and sun-dappled Provence . . . Birkelund constructs a rich world replete with real emotional stakes and lovely insights on how translation relates to life . . . This sumptuous tale deserves a wide audience."-Publishers Weekly
A woman leaves her coastal Greenland village to translate the works of a renowned Proven al poet and finds her life irrevocably changed, in this tender and romantic novel set in a French village.
"Big-hearted, whimsical, and enchanting."-Christina Baker Kline, New York Times bestselling author of The Exiles
Ilse Erlund is a translator who lives in a house on stilts along the west coast of Greenland. Isolated and restless in her world by the sea, she convinces her publisher to pay for a trip to the country she has never visited but whose language she speaks fluently- France. Her mission is to translate the verses of Geoffrey "Po" Labaye, a charismatic poet known as "the last living troubadour of Provence."
Upon arrival in the medieval hilltop village of Belle Rivi re, Ilse falls under the spell of the Proven al way of life, captivated by the air, the sun, the vibrant spring colors, and the dulcet sounds of the dialect. Soon enough, Ilse is captivated by the poet, too, and she and Po develop a daily rhythm and warm camaraderie-which is disrupted by the arrival of the poet's son, Frey. Though he has a fiancee back in Paris, Frey turns his attentions to Ilse, and suddenly she is forced to learn another language, one her translation skills have not prepared her to decode. Where-and with whom-does her future lie?
With an eye and ear attuned to the sensibilities of French life, Elizabeth Birkelund has created a love story about a woman forced to choose between the security of her quiet northern home and the possibility of the life of her dreams.
