From the acclaimed Icelandic author of "The Journey Home" comes a haunting collection of thematically linked stories that traverse the twelve months of a year. The stories in "Valentines "capture the most candid moments between lovers, husbands and wives, parents and children, when truths and true feelings surge to the surface and everything changes. A wife realizes her closest confidante is much more than that. A father tries to make his new lover into the image of his late wife. A husband, a wife, a child, a boating accident: no harm done . . . or is there? Olaf Olafsson's fans will recognize the perfect restraint and precision--and quick wit--with which he explores these dark epiphanies, when the heart is suddenly laid bare, whether by love or betrayal, disenchantment or the shock of loss. "Valentines "is a powerful work of fiction from one of our most gifted and subtle international writers at work today.