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Swanfolk

A Novel

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Like a modern Midsummer Night’s Dream, an ethereal and haunting novel about a young spy who enchanted by a species of half-swan, half-human creatures—an obsession that ultimately leads her to question her own existence—and sanity.

In the not-too-distant future, a young spy named Elísabet Eva finds herself mentally unraveling following an assignment in Paris. Everything in Elísabet’s life in the city—her friends, social engagements, and late nights—revolved around her work as a spy with the Special Unit. To regain her mental balance, Elísabet finds herself taking long solitary walks near the lake.

One day, she sees two strange beasts emerging from the water—a pair of seemingly mythical creatures, human woman above the waist, swan below. Curious, she follows them through tangles of thickets to a clearing . . . and into a strange new reality. 

Elísabet’s walks become regular visits to these swan women. As she earns their trust, the creatures reveal the enigma of their secret existence and their desire to reproduce. Pulled further and further into the swanfolk’s monomaniacal (and often violent) quest, Elísabet finds her own mind growing increasingly untrustworthy. Ultimately, she is forced to reckon with both the consequences of her involvement with these unusual beings and her own past—and face a truth she’s carefully tried to evade.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 13, 2022
      Ómarsdóttir (Children in Reindeer Woods) returns with an offbeat and uneven tale of secret committees and hybrid creatures. Narrator Elísabet Eva is a special agent for an unnamed country’s Ministry of the Interior. After she is attacked while on a mission in Paris, she’s assigned to report on the local stand-up comedy scene, and while visiting a park, she meets a handful of half-human, half-swan animals who periodically whisk her into their world. The “swanfolk,” as Elísabet calls them, are sometimes friendly, sometimes violent, and they long to live alongside humans. One day, a parcel arrives at the Ministry containing a swanfolk’s unhatched egg, which prompts Elísabet to report the swanfolk’s existence to her office. An investigation is launched, but no traces of the swanfolk are found, and despite the egg, Elísabet wonders if she imagined everything. Throughout, Ómarsdóttir hints at Elísabet’s unreliability, from the character conjuring an imaginary sister and pet dog to an occasional use of third-person narration. And while the author cleverly employs the swanfolk to explore Elísabet’s mental state, the story basically amounts to a series of odd details. The whole doesn’t quite live up to its parts. Agent: Anna Stein, ICM Partners.

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  • English

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