Ein Rätsel auf blauschwarzem Grund

A Norwegian valley in the year 1880: The young pastor Kai Schweigaard wants to build a new church in Butangen. For this, the 700-year-old stave church must be demolished. Along with it, the two bells, which are believed to possess supernatural powers, must go. And they must remain together at all costs – just like the two Hekne sisters, conjoined twins, for whom they were dedicated long ago. "One day you will pay for this," prophesies the Hekne descendant Astrid, who fights in vain for the preservation of the bell pair. Misfortune begins to unfold. Astrid dies in childbirth after giving birth to twins, of whom only one is said to survive, Jehan. The pastor is plagued by guilt. How can the bell pair be reclaimed? The legend says that only two "follow brothers," meaning twins, can reunite the bells. Butangen in 1903: Jehan lives as a farmer in modest circumstances. He longs for freedom, for fishing and reindeer hunting. One August morning, he kills a massive reindeer stag – and in that moment encounters a mysterious stranger. A novel about the path to a new era, about enlightenment and hardship, and the struggle for love, about taming waterfalls and the first electric beam of light in the valley's night darkness.