"The year is 1903, in the village of Butangen, Norway, and twenty-two years have passed since Astrid Hekne, a local girl, gave birth to twin sons. One of them, Jehans, is as rebellious as his mother. Cast out from the village, he lives on a struggling homestead in the mountains, where he fishes and hunts reindeer for his livelihood. One August morning, Jehans kills a massive reindeer buck and, at the same moment, encounters an enigmatic hunter. At the new church in the village, Pastor Kai Schweigaard is tormented by his past betrayal, the sale of the old stave church, including the loss of the church's mystical twin bells, known as the sister bells. Kai becomes obsessed with finding the long-lost ancient tapestry woven by the conjoined sisters in whose memory the bells were cast, with the hope that it will bring him redemption." -- Front cover flap.