200,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿 

Overnight NZ-wide delivery | 📍 Visit our Auckland bookstore • Open 7 days, 8:30am–5pm

A Parish Chronicle

By Halldór Laxness
Series: Brief Encounters
0.0 (0 reviews)
Brief Description
Experience a brief encounter with Halldór Laxness, the Nobel Prize-winning Icelandic author, in this rich, rustic and charming novel. An intimate, magical novel about one enduring church in a rural Icelandic valley—an ode to a quiet way of life now lost to time forever. The resting... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2400
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Experience a brief encounter with Halldór Laxness, the Nobel Prize-winning Icelandic author, in this rich, rustic and charming novel.

An intimate, magical novel about one enduring church in a rural Icelandic valley—an ode to a quiet way of life now lost to time forever.

The resting place of the legendary Viking warrior Egil Skallagrimsson's skull, Mosfell Church is a lonely, country church, fated to be destroyed. But as the plans to destroy it take shape, stories, myth and folklore abound in one magical last attempt to leave Mosfell standing.

Brief Encounters: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days.

Series: Brief Encounters

View all
  • An Undesirable Friend
    An Undesirable Friend
    Enjoy a BRIEF ENCOUNTER with Natsume Soseki, Japan's greatest modern novelist, in this sly, comic tale of cats, humans, and the absurdities of friendship. From Japan's most famous, classic novelist comes a remarkable gem of wit, irony, and feline observation. A stray kitten, catapulted to literary fame, loudly observes the world of Meiji Japan in all its absurdity. But he's...
    By Natsume Soseki
    Paperback
    $2400
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • A Parish Chronicle
    A Parish Chronicle
    Experience a brief encounter with Halldór Laxness, the Nobel Prize-winning Icelandic author, in this rich, rustic and charming novel. An intimate, magical novel about one enduring church in a rural Icelandic valley—an ode to a quiet way of life now lost to time forever. The resting place of the legendary Viking warrior Egil Skallagrimsson's skull, Mosfell Church is a lonely,...
    By Halldór Laxness
    Paperback
    $2400
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Ape and Essence
    Ape and Essence
    Relish a BRIEF ENCOUNTER with Aldous Huxley, the visionary author, in his dystopian satire. Huxley's dystopian classic is a nightmare vision of the fate of humanity in a post-nuclear world. After a devastating global catastrophe, a group of scientists arrives in a ruined future shaped by fear, ritual, and violence. Humanity has survived—but at a terrible cost, and not in...
    By Aldous Huxley
    Paperback
    $2400
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • A Souvenir of Japan
    A Souvenir of Japan
    Embark on a brief encounter with Angela Carter, weird fiction's most influential pioneer, and her transformative stories of finding oneself in the face of another world. Five stories of desire and discovery set in 1970s Japan, from weird fiction's most influential pioneer - Angela Carter. An Englishwoman muses on her affair with a younger Japanese man. A spurned lover seeks...
    By Angela Carter
    Paperback
    $2400
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Bartleby, The Scrivener
    Bartleby, The Scrivener
    Enjoy a brief encounter with Herman Melville, the great, epic storyteller of Modern America, and his enduring tale of a man who takes refusing to conform to its extreme limits. Herman Melville's enduringly comic and affecting tale of a man who takes quiet quitting to its extreme. A new clerk in a Wall Street lawyer's office causes dismay and confusion...
    By Herman Melville
    Paperback
    $2400
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Behind a Mask
    Behind a Mask
    Experience a BRIEF ENCOUNTER with Louisa May Alcott, beloved chronicler of girlhood, in this surprisingly dark, subversive novella of deception and desire. This is Alcott as you have never seen her before – gothic, and gloriously unsettling. A young governess arrives at a grand country house and quickly wins the confidence of its family. Humble and modest, Jean Muir seems...
    By Louisa May Alcott
    Paperback
    $2400
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Bewitched
    Bewitched
    Experience a BRIEF ENCOUNTER with Edith Wharton, grande dame of American letters, in these spectral tales of longing, loss, and the uncanny. Edith Wharton's ghost stories whisper of passion, exile, and the things we cannot forget. In an old Dorset house, a couple settle into a life of quiet comfort — until a presence makes itself felt. At a country...
    By Edith Wharton
    Paperback
    $2400
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Cain
    Cain
    Experience a brief encounter with José Saramago, the Nobel Prize-winning author, in his provocative and philosophical retelling of the biblical story of Cain. Written in the last years of Saramago's life, Cain is a controversial and witty story of a wilful, authoritarian God. After killing his brother, Cain is condemned to wander the earth. As he moves through time, he...
    By José Saramago
    Paperback
    $2400
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age
    Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age
    A trail-blazing, transportive novella that contains all the energy, history and charm of one man's lifetime, this is Bohumil Hrabal's most unique masterpiece. This ebullient, gallivanting novella encapsulates the world vision of the Czech Republic's best-loved author in one tumbling, breathtaking sentence. An ageing man holds court, spinning a single, unbroken stream of stories about his life—loves won and lost,...
    By Bohumil Hrabal
    Paperback
    $2400
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Distant Star
    Distant Star
    Enjoy a brief encounter with Roberto Bolaño, the 21st century's first, great classic author, and his novella Distant Star—a dark, haunting, yet delightfully magical story of two poets outplaying one another in a sinister endgame of cat-and-mouse. A dazzling, daring tale of poets at the end of the world, Distant Star is Roberto Bolaño's miniature dystopian masterpiece. Alberto Ruiz-Tagle was...
    By Roberto Bolaño
    Paperback
    $2400
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Down by the Riverside
    Down by the Riverside
    Relish a BRIEF ENCOUNTER with Richard Wright, trailblazing voice of African American literature, in this devastating story of survival, love and betrayal during a Southern flood. A flood brings not only rising waters but the full force of a brutal, racist world. With the Mississippi flooding, a Black farmer struggles to get his pregnant wife to safety. In the chaos,...
    By Richard Wright
    Paperback
    $2400
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Dracula's Guest
    Dracula's Guest
    Relish a brief encounter with Bram Stoker, master of Gothic horror, in this chilling tale and other stories that serve as a doorway into the dark world of Dracula. Step into the night where tombs lie open and wolves prowl under a cursed moon. A solitary traveller strays from the road on the eve of Walpurgis Night. Snow closes in,...
    By Bram Stoker
    Paperback
    $2400
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781529985757

Publisher: Vintage Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 02 July 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Vintage Classics

Contributors:

  • Translated by Philip Roughton

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 10.0mm

Width: 131.0mm

Height: 199.0mm

Weight: 110g

Pages: 128

Collections

Education & Reference Fiction Fiction in Translation General Fiction Halldór Laxness Historical Fiction Humour Penguin Books Series: Brief Encounters Special Editions

About the Author

Halld r Laxness (1908-98) was born near Reykjavik, Iceland. His first novel was published when he was seventeen. The undisputed master of contemporary Icelandic fiction and one of the outstanding novelists of the twentieth-century, he wrote more than sixty books. Laxness was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1955.

Also by Halldór Laxness

View all
  • On Sale
    17% off
    Independent People
    A magnificent Icelandic epic by the Tolstoy of the North First published in 1946, this is a humane, epic novel set in rural Iceland. Bjartus is a sheep farmer determined to eke a living from a blighted patch of land. Nothing, not merciless weather, nor his family, will come between him and his goal of financial independence. Only Asta Solillja,...
    By Halldór Laxness
    Paperback
    $1900
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Under the Glacier
    Darkly funny and surprising novel about superstition and religion in an isolated Icelandic town. With an introduction from Susan Sontag. 'Wildly original, morose, uproarious... It is also one of the funniest books ever written' Susan Sontag A naive young man is sent by the bishop of Iceland to investigate a small town that has reportedly lost its faith. The church...
    By Halldór Laxness
    Paperback
    Sold Out

Browse lists from our team

The Latest at Book Hero

View all

More from Historical Fiction

View all
  • New Release
    The Piano Teacher of Montparnasse
    In 1942, the Nazis came for a Jewish family living in Montparnasse, occupied Paris. In the chaos of their arrest, the eleven-year-old daughter fled to the only person she trusted: her piano teacher... The author of the international bestseller, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, returns with a masterful new novel that captures the astonishing bravery of ordinary people in extraordinary times....
    By Heather Morris
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Flying Girls
    A gripping drama from the #1 bestselling author, inspired by the pioneering female pilots who served with the Air Transport Auxiliary during World War II. Initially viewed with scepticism, these women became a crucial, high-skilled, and often unsung force that ferried 309,000 aircraft—from trainers to heavy bombers—from factories to Royal Air Force frontline bases, freeing up male combat pilots. The...
    By Olivia Spooner
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Art Lovers
    New Release
    The Art Lovers
    The heart-stopping new historical adventure by the bestselling author of The Soldier's Daughter. While war rages across the city of Valletta, a local barkeeper's daughter, Valentina Camilleri, is on the cusp of womanhood when Flight Lieutenant Peter Fox falls out of the sky from his Spitfire and into her world. In that fateful moment, he captures not just her imagination...
    By Fiona McIntosh
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    27% off
    The Parisian Chapter
    From the New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Library and The Librarians of Rue de Picardie comes a charming and cinematic novel following a young woman from Montana who lands a job in the American Library in Paris, where she discovers the power of storytelling and writes her own Parisian chapter.'Stirring and rich with detail' New York Times...
    By Janet Skeslien Charles
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    16% off
    Inferno
    AD 60. Nero Claudius Caesar is Emperor. He is feared for his temper. He is known to be intoxicated by the power he wields. And why not? The Roman Empire stretches from the wilds of Britain to the deserts of Parthia. Nero is god of all he surveys. Yet dangerous traitors lie close at hand. Generals commanding legions. Senators whispering...
    By Conn Iggulden
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Circle of Days
    From the master of epic fiction comes the deeply human story of one of the world's greatest mysteries: the building of Stonehenge. A FLINT MINER WITH A GIFT Seft, a talented flint miner, walks the Great Plain in the high summer heat, to witness the rituals that signal the start of a new year. He is there to trade his...
    By Ken Follett
    Hardback
    $4499
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    17% off
    The Soldier's Daughter
    The heart-stopping new blockbuster by the bestselling author of The Fallen Woman. Violet Nash has grown up in the shadows of her father Charlie's shattered dreams. It's been years since he walked away from the battlefields of France, a WWI hero but his heart in tatters, only to see it broken all over again in the worst way possible. In...
    By Fiona McIntosh
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Girl with the Suitcase
    The enthralling new novel from the 10-million-copy, No. 1 bestselling author. London 1941 When Mary meets a glamorous stranger named Elizabeth, she realises their lives couldn't be more different. But when an air raid forces them to take shelter underground, Mary's life is set to change forever. After waking up in hospital, injured but alive, the nurse mistakes her for...
    By Lesley Pearse
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    23% off
    The Lost Bookshop
    Evie Woods' stunning new novel The Story Collector is available now. The Echo of Old Books meets The Lost Apothecary in this evocative and charming novel full of mystery and secrets. ‘The thing about books,’ she said ‘is that they help you to imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of.’ On a quiet street in...
    By Evie Woods
    Paperback
    $1700
    Elsewhere:
    $2500
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • All the Diamonds in Paris
    Kristin Harmel is firmly in the top echelon of WW2 storytellers - HEATHER MORRIS A master storyteller - SANTA MONTEFIORE The best at sweeping historical drama - KELLY HARMS A dazzling diamond of a novel - HAZEL GAYNOR * Paris, 1942: Anabel Martinet is a jewel thief, descended from a family that has spent centuries stealing from the unkind and...
    By Kristin Harmel
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Listeners
    ‘By turns a beautiful love story, a fascinating glimpse into the horrors of history and a haunting tale of loyalty and courage. A marvel of storytelling’ CHRIS WHITAKER, bestselling author of All the Colours of the Dark The Avallon Hotel offers unrivalled luxury in the wild Appalachian Mountains, its curative sweetwater washing away the troubles of high society. June 'Hoss'...
    By Maggie Stiefvater
    Paperback
    $3600
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Atmosphere
    The new novel by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six. An epic novel set against the backdrop of the 1980s space shuttle programme and the extraordinary lengths we go to live and love beyond our limits. In the summer of 1980, astrophysics professor Joan Goodwin begins...
    By Taylor Jenkins Reid
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 190,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.