Hovering on the seductive borderline between realism and fantasy, Prince is an evocative, richly imagined novel about a defining season in the life of a young outcast. In 1912 at a provincial Danish seaside hotel, twelve-year-old Malte, a charity, case from the city, revels in the freedom of summer. A solitary boy, Malte spends his days on the beach, transfixed by the sea. When a coffin containing a young sailor drifts ashore, Malte is soon absorbed in the sailor's tragic love story and dramatic death, and their fates become dangerously intertwined.