{"product_id":"9780307426314","title":"Iceland's Bell","description":"Sometimes grim, sometimes uproarious, and always captivating, \u003cb\u003eIceland’s Bell\u003c\/b\u003e by Nobel Laureate Halldór Laxness is at once an updating of the traditional Icelandic saga and a caustic social satire. At the close of the 17th century, Iceland is an oppressed Danish colony, suffering under extreme poverty, famine, and plague. A farmer and accused cord-thief named Jon Hreggvidsson makes a bawdy joke about the Danish king and soon after finds himself a fugitive charged with the murder of the king’s hangman.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the years that follow, the hapless but resilient rogue Hreggvidsson becomes a pawn entangled in political and personal conflicts playing out on a far grander scale. Chief among these is the star-crossed love affair between Snaefridur, known as “Iceland’s Sun,” a beautiful, headstrong young noblewoman, and Arnas Arnaeus, the king’s antiquarian, an aristocrat whose worldly manner conceals a fierce devotion to his downtrodden countrymen. As their personal struggle plays itself out on an international stage, \u003cb\u003eIceland’s Bell\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003ecreates a Dickensian canvas of heroism and venality, violence and tragedy, charged with narrative enchantment on every page.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eFrom the Trade Paperback edition.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47116411601136,"sku":"9780307426314","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780307426314_p0.jpg?v=1763672458","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780307426314","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}