The Whispering Muse

The year is 1949 and Valdimar Haraldsson, an eccentric Icelander with elevated ideas about the influence of fish consumption on Nordic civilisation, has had the singular good fortune to be invited to join a Danish merchant ship on its way to the Black Sea. Among the crew is the mythical hero Caeneus, disguised as the second mate. Every evening after dinner he entrances his fellow travellers with the tale of how he sailed with the fabled vessel the Argo on the Argonauts' quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece. A master storyteller, Sjón seamlessly blends seafaring yarns of the ancient world with the manners of the modern age. 'The Whispering Muse is a quirky, melodic, ticklish, seamlessly-translated, lovingly-polished gem of a novel. Sjón's work deserves space on any self-respecting bookshelf of European fiction.' David Mitchell 'Sjón writes like a man under a spell, filled with enchantment and magic and great wit. He is a rogue of the first order.' Keith Donohue 'The Whispering Muse is a wonderful story about stories, evoking comparisons to Borges, Nabakov and Calvino while remaining a complete original. Sly, dry and elegant, with a diamond brilliance' Chris Wilson 'An extraordinary, powerful fable - a marvel' Alberto Manguel 'An extraordinary and original writer' A.S. Byatt