"Love, suspense, nature and superstition are woven together in this powerful novel" MAJA LUNDE, author of The History of Bees

"Lars Mytting writes with an insight, empathy and integrity few others can match" JO NESBØ

"An exquisitely atmospheric novel" DEREK B. MILLER, author of Norwegian by Night

"Lyrical, melancholy and with beautifully drawn characters, this pitches old beliefs against new ways with a haunting delicacy that rings true" Daily Mail

Norway, 1880. Astrid Hekne dreams of a life beyond her village, beyond marriage, children, and working the land to the end of her days.

Pastor Kai Schweigaard arrives to take over the small parish, with its 700-year-old stave church carved with pagan deities. The two bells in the tower, forged by Astrid's forefather, are said to hold supernatural powers. The villagers are wary of the new pastor and his resolve to do away with their centuries-old traditions, but Astrid finds herself drawn to him.

Whe another stranger arrives from Dresden, with grand plans for the church itself, Astrid is thunderstruck. She has never met anyone like him; he seems so different, so sensitive. But will she choose her homeland and the pastor, or an uncertain future in Germany?

And then the bells begin to ring . . .

A previous Times Historical Fiction Book of the Month

Translated from the Norwegian by Deborah Dawkin