A difficult book, in which memories of Ben's dead mother are hidden due to Ben's denial and refusal to remember the events surrounding her murder. Set two years after her murder, the book begins when Ben's father has moved the family to Newfoundland from Ottawa, Canada. Ben distances himself from his family and the small community, creating hostility towards him. Ben imagines himself to be Tor, a Viking settler in Vinland. Tor's imagined life and Ben's real life become entangled, finally allowing Ben to work through his grief and guilt at his mother's murder. ( )