First published in 1964, The Good Hope won The Nordic Prize for Literature. Forty years in the making, The Good Hope, is the story of one man's battle against a corrupt and dictatorial regime. In the manner typical of him, William Heinesen plays with both historical language and historical fact. Though written in the first person and with a clear flavour of the past, Heinesen's original language is not Danish that was ever spoken by anyone. And although it is possible to relate the events portrayed to historical facts and figures, Heinesen has deliberately altered names and dates so as to allow himself greater liberty than would have been the case had he not done so. The result is a dramatic fantasy in which Heinesen's customary themes ? the struggle against evil, sectarianism, superstition and oppression ? emerge on a higher plane in what many consider to be his finest novel. AUTHOR: William Heinesen (1900-1991) was born in Torshaun in the Faroe Islands, the son of a Danish mother and Faroese father, and he was equally at home in both languages. Although he spent most of his life in the Faroe Islands, he chose to write in Danish as he felt it offered him greater inventive freedom. Internationally known as a poet and a novelist he made his living as an artist.
