This book took hold of me and wouldn’t let go!
Greenland, AD 1000
More than her fiery hair marks Freydís as the daughter of Erik the Red; her hot temper and fierce pride are as formidable as her Viking father’s. And so, too, is her devotion to the great god Thor, which puts her at odds with those in power—including her own brother, the zealous Leif Eriksson. Determined to forge her own path, she defies her family’s fury and clings to her dream of sailing away to live on her own terms, with or without the support of her husband.
New Hampshire, 2016
Like her Icelandic ancestors, history professor Emma Moretti is a passionate defender of Norse mythology. But in a small town steeped in traditional values, her cultural beliefs could jeopardize both her academic career and her congressman father’s reelection. Torn between public expectation and personal identity, family and faith, she must choose which to honor and which to abandon.
A dual-time narrative with a historical spotlight on the Norse sagas, this is a page-turner with a light touch of romance and contemporary politics. Daughter of a Thousand Years is well written, very compelling, and extremely enjoyable. It has relevant things to say about respecting religious freedom. I recommend it!
I found Amalia Carosella’s historical timeline richly imagined, as fierce as Freydis herself, and as harsh as might be expected. The writing in Daughter of a Thousand Years is great, and, at first, I found the alternating historical and contemporary chapters equally intriguing. But I have to admit that I quickly became frustrated with Freydis as a character. I admired her loyalty to her father and her personal strength. Yet I found her attitude toward being a woman troublesome and her moral choices to be, in almost every case, highly objectionable. However, the Vikings have always fascinated me, and the pull of a Norse saga re-imagined was enough for me to continue with the story.
While the historical plot is intriguing on an epic scale, it was the more personal contemporary drama that really drew me in. As the daughter of a congressman during a re-election year, Emma is in the public eye when a controversy in her classroom turns into a scandal that shakes her family—and her father’s campaign—to its core. From one religious student’s comment to another’s well-intentioned effort to reach out, Emma has to navigate how much to say and how much of herself to reveal not just to the public but to the man that she’s just starting to fall for. The secret was surprising to me—although perhaps it wouldn’t have been if I had read the cover copy more carefully. But I’m glad that I didn’t. If I had, I’m embarrassed to say that I likely would’ve written this book off, and that would’ve been my loss.
Daughter of a Thousand Years presents the very relevant subject of religious freedom both in AD 1000 Greenland and today from the perspective of about the smallest minority you can imagine. The author Amalia Carosella and her two heroines all identify themselves religiously as Heathen. I want be very clear that I use that not as a derogatory term but respectfully, deliberately following the example of the author in using it as a proper noun. As my regular readers will know, I am a Christian and hold my beliefs close to my heart. It is my observation that this author does the same with her own faith.
That being said, I have a confession to make: I requested this advanced readers copy mainly because it was a dual-time narrative (I love those) and had a Viking-set storyline. I didn’t realize that the main contemporary heroine, Emma, literally worshiped Thor. While I have my own opinions about this set of beliefs, the author was very authentic in her representation of both the good and the bad actions of Christian people in her novel—and was so respectful in her discussion of religious freedom in general—that I have nothing further to add to what is in the book. I’ll just say this one thing: It’s hard to write about religious differences and not be offensive so I give Amalia Carosella mad props for that.
Thank you to Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this book. My apologies that it’s a little late in getting out to the world! This book was released on February 21, 2017, and is now available wherever books are sold.
annahenke 