The Book of I, Greig - B +

                  I is the island of Iona, off Scotland’s western coast. This fascinating and brief novel opens with a Viking raid on the monastery and the murder of all but one of the monks, along with most of the island’s occupants. The next day, the king’s men arrive to bury the dead and remove the survivors to the mainland. A young monk, Martin, and the late smithy’s wife, Una, choose to stay.  Grimur, the eldest Viking, had become so drunk the day before on Una’s mead that his comrades buried him, believing him dead. He rises from the grave with help from Brother Martin, who had been praying for him. When Grimur sees the monastery’s Book of I—page after page of brilliantly illustrated parchment—he decides to help Martin rebuild the island. He repairs the monastery, fixes up Una’s cottage, and moves in with her. Over the summer, a young woman named Bronagh arrives from Ireland, seeking a solitary life devoted to the contemplation of God. They gladly accommodate her, but after two months of prayer she leaves. One day, as Martin speaks to Grimur about God’s love, Grimur goes berserk and tells Martin that the world is about blood, lust, and murder, not love and forgiveness. He then gets drunk, kills one of the horses, and rolls in its blood. Martin retreats into his work, determined to complete the Holy Gospel of John the Apostle before the Vikings return. Late in the year 826, he finishes. Within days, the red sail of a Viking ship appears on the horizon. When they land, however, they are met by a ghost. Grimur, covered in ash and ghostly white, appears before his former companions. Only Helgi, their leader, refuses to believe it and is promptly dispatched to Valhalla by Grimur. Martin takes the holy book to a safer place, while Una and Grimur settle down on Iona. Brilliantly creative.