Aksel Sandemose

Part of a series of novels about the author's alter ego, Espen Arnakke, a sailor from Jante, Denmark, begun in 1931 and continuing to 1938. He explores his irrational act of murdering a friend who seduced his girlfriend. This part is set in the small narrow-minded Danish village he calls 'Yoknapatawpha' where Espen explores his childhood to find out who he is.