Western Icelandic Short Stories

Anne Savoie is a youth counsellor in Anjou, Quebec.

This is a collection of short stories, dating from the late 19th and
early 20th centuries, by both native Icelanders and emigrants to Canada.
An informative and interesting introduction by Kirsten Wolf, one of the
translators, provides background on the Icelandic people, their
migration to North America, and their beginnings here. Each story is
prefaced with a brief biographical and literary note about the author.
Their themes are varied, and some stories, despite their vintage, are
quite contemporary. In “How I Defeated the Board,” for example, a
man evades paying taxes, a theme familiar to readers today. The settings
and characters in these stories are so varied there is bound to be
something in the collection that will please most readers. A very
enjoyable glimpse of the past through the eyes of Icelandic Canadians.