The Gyre
A novel forthcoming from Alternating Current Press.
The Gyre chronicles the travails of Arkady Afanasev, a nineteenth-century Russian Orthodox monk who wants to be the northernmost holy man in the world. It is a novel of spiritual aspiration, doomed ambition and the unexpectedly rich layers of folklore present in Spitsbergen, a remote arctic archipelago often thought of as a Terra nullius.
Advance Praise for The Gyre:
“An absolutely astonishing saga, packed at every turn with magic, incomprehensible courage and persistence, and—always—the great, turning, harsh natural world. Fearlessly imagined and capably written, Stacy Carlson has created a searingly unforgettable mythology.”
— Joan Frank, author of Juniper Street: A Novel and Late Work: A Literary Autobiography of Love, Loss, and What I Was Reading
“Mythic journeys, fairy tales of ice and snow, sailors’ vodka-addled and lusty dreams, a monk’s poetic yearnings – The Gyre has it all! As we follow Arkady Afanasyev on his journey into the farthest reaches of the Arctic in search of his teacher and himself, we encounter story upon story strung together, like pearls, showing us how we are connected to the water, the ice, the ground, the light, and each other. The Gyre pulls you in and in and into its profoundly beautiful spiral of a story.”
— Kathryn Nuernberger, author of Held: Essays in Belonging
“Stacy Carlson has written an enthralling story of flawed, fragile humanity and the uncanny redemptive power of nature at its most brutal. The Gyre is a journey through a stark, glittering wilderness, an unforgettable landscape both terrible and holy in equal measure.”
— Lynn Coady, Giller Prize-winning author of Hellgoing
