The Promise of Iceland

Born from a secret liaison between a British mother and an Icelandic father, Kari Gislason was the subject of a promise: a promise elicited by his father not to reveal his identity in order to spare his wife and five other children. At the age of 27, Kari decides to break the pact between his parents by contacting his father’s family; what follows makes for a riveting journey over landscapes, time, and memory. From the shark net at Sydney’s Balmoral and an unsettled life in the English countryside to the harsh yellow summer of Brisbane and the freezing cold winters of Iceland, the author traces his mother’s steps into the arms of a secret lover. At the culmination of this poignant, painful, and joyous story, Kari’s determination to defy his father’s wishes results in his uniting with his relatives.

Kari Gislason is a lecturer in creative writing and literary studies at Queensland University of Technology and a former professor at both the University of Iceland and the University of Queensland. He is also a former judge for the Steele Rudd Short Story Collection Prize.