The Sealwoman's Gift

I love this book for many reasons. The Sealwoman is a passenger on the slave ship that takes our protagonist form her beloved homeland, and the ‘gift’ of the title is the story she tells of her shapeshifting roots. The voyage is hellish, and contains a terrifying birth scene among other unspeakable, unimaginable, only just survivable events. It’s based on a true story, which makes it all the more powerful, and it makes me wonder about the hidden truths in the folklore contained within it, especially the sealwoman’s story. 

Icelanders still remember how in 1627 Algerian pirates carried off around 400 people, including nearly everyone from Heimaey. Archives record that Asta ∂orsteinsdottir and pastor Olaf Egilsson and their children were among them. Just how traumatic would that be, to have not only yourself but, worse, your beloved family, snatched from home and sold into slavery? What are the chances of ever seeing your children again? Yet history shows repeatedly that human beings will suffer almost anything, and survive. Another powerful daughter of the sagas, Sally Magnusson’s Asta never lets go of who she is, and yet she is torn…… show more.