ABOUT THE BOOK

It is 1912 at a provincial Danish seaside hotel. Twelve-year-old Malte, a charity case from the city, revels in the freedom of summer, even as he weathers the dramas in his small world: condescending or friendly adults, a pregnant hotel maid, and a runaway rogue. One day, Malte discovers a coffin that has drifted ashore. No one claims the handsome young sailor inside. But the ancient crone living all alone in the amber castle seems to be hiding something.

Soon Malte is absorbed in the sailor's tragic love story and dramatic death, and their fates become dangerously intertwined. Beautifully written, 'Prince' hovers on a seductive borderline between realism and fantasy, between a sun-kissed, salt-streaked oceanside summer world and a mythical universe where time and place merge.

Ib Michael, born in 1945, is one of Denmark's foremost writers. The author of more than twenty books, he has travelled throughout the world. He lives in Copenhagen.