It begins with a spellbinding description of fish splitting – a thorough description of every detail, filled with imagery, beautiful.

Suddenly, we are drawn back to the islands, where lonely souls hide among the empty ruins, where it is possible to pull through, as long as you know how to net and make the effort.

Tey ósjónligu (The invisibles) was an almost timeless account despite its setting in the early 20th century. With this one, contemporary times fill the picture in a more obvious, vehement way – the stage is set during World War II, from the autumn of 1944 to spring of 1945.

Ingrid leaves the cooper’s attic, where she splits fish 10 hours a day, and goes back to Barroy, hoping that the relatives would reach the island. Bit by bit, characters from the first book reappear.

As she strolls along the beach, diving birds draw her attention to something that is floating on the surface of the water. Corpses are drifting ashore, and among them, she finds a severely burnt man, who is alive.

At the time, Ingrid is unaware of the fact that the MS Rigel, which was used to transport German prisoners of war, was sunk in November 1944 with more than 2000 dead. Ingrid manages to revive the man. She falls in love with him but needs to get rid of him again, as the country is occupied.

They are absorbed by the world around them, people with bad intentions arrive, they hunt prisoners, and abuse Ingrid.