Barbara — Jorgen-Frantz Jacobsen

The only novel by the Faroese author, yet an international best-seller remaining one of the best-loved twentieth century classics in Danish and Faroese literature. "Its twofold achievement is a remarkable evocation of the starkness of life in the Faroe Islands in the 1750s and of the vitality and sexuality of an extraordinary woman, an amoral Cleopatra within a brow-beaten community...It is to the credit of the translator that he has found a style of English through which the original can be felt." - TLS. Beautiful, passionate, innocent, devoted, amoral, and uncomprehending of her own tragedy, Barbara is portrayed with fascinated devotion. "[Barbara] stands as one of the most complex and interesting female characters in modern Scandinavian literature." - Scandinavian Studies. "Jacobsen's descriptions of the islands and the seas around them are veritable poetry. . . Highly recommended." Booklist