The Mark

Authors: Friða Isberg & Larissa Kyzer

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) | Fiction in translation

Published on 6^th June 2024 by Faber & Faber in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 304 pages
216mm x 135mm | 0g

'Absolutely stunning.' Hernan Diaz'Brilliant.' Mariana Enriquez'A masterpiece.' Kaveh AkbarThe Icelandic Psychological Association has prepared a test. They call it a sensitivity assessment: a way of measuring a person's empathy and identifying the potential for anti-social behaviour.

In a few days' time, Iceland will vote on whether to make the test compulsory for every citizen. The nation is bitterly divided. Some believe the test makes society safer; others decry it as a violation.

As the referendum draws closer, four people - Vetur, Eyja, Tristan and Ólafur - find themselves caught in the teeth of the debate. Each of them will have to reckon with uncomfortable questions: Where do the rights of society end and the rights of the individual begin? When does utopia become dystopia?No matter which side wins, they will all have to find a way to live with the result.