The Promise of Iceland

In 1990, at the age of seventeen, Kari Gislason travelled to Iceland, the land of his birth, and arranged to meet his father. What he found was not what he expected.

In 1990, at the age of seventeen, Kari Gislason travelled to Iceland, the land of his birth, and arranged to meet his father. What he found was not what he expected.

Born from a secret liaison between a British mother and an Icelandic father, Kari moved regularly between Iceland, England and Australia. He grew up aware of who his father was, but understood his mother had promised never to reveal his father's identity. It was a promise his father was to also elicit from him when they met.

A decade later, Kari made the decision to break the promise and he contacted his half-siblings, who knew nothing of his existence. What led him there and what followed makes for a heartfelt and riveting journey over landscapes, time and memory, searching for a sense of belonging.

'Their love meant it would always be just me and my mother, a lone parent with a lone child . . . supported by the promise made to Gisli, and the promise of Iceland that it offered.'