the Sealwoman's Gift: Zoe Ball book club novel of 17th century Iceland

The debut novel of abduction and slavery set in 17th century Iceland and North Africa by Sunday Times bestselling author and broadcaster Sally Magnusson. SHORTLISTED FOR THE HWA DEBUT CROWN THE BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD THE MCKITTERICK PRIZE THE PAUL TORDAY MEMORIAL PRIZE THE WAVERTON GOOD READ AWARD A ZOE BALL ITV BOOK CLUB PICK'REMARKABLE' Sarah Perry'EXTRAORDINARILY IMMERSIVE' Guardian'A REALLY, REALLY GOOD READ' BBC R2 Book Club''LYRICAL' Stylist'POETIC' Daily Mail1627. In a notorious historical event, pirates raided the coast of Iceland and abducted 400 people into slavery in Algiers. Among them a pastor, his wife, and their children.In her acclaimed debut novel Sally Magnusson imagines what history does not record: the experience of Asta, the pastor's wife, as she faces her losses with the one thing left to her - the stories from home - and forges an ambiguous bond with the man who bought her. Uplifting, moving, and sharply witty, The Sealwoman's Gift speaks across centuries and oceans about loss, love, resilience and redemption.'Sally Magnusson has taken an amazing true event and created a brilliant first novel. It's an epic journey in every sense: although it's historical, it's incredibly relevant to our world today. We had to pick it' Zoe Ball Book Club'Richly imagined and energetically told' Sunday Times 'The best sort of historical novel' Scotsman 'Compelling ' Good Housekeeping'An accomplished and intelligent novel' Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, author of Why Did You Lie?'Vivid and compelling' Adam Nichols, co-translator of The Travels of Reverend Ólafur Egilsson

'A remarkable feat of imagination... I enjoyed and admired it in equal measure' Sarah Perry, author of The Essex SerpentIn 1627 Barbary pirates raided the coast of Iceland and abducted some 400 of its people, including 250 from a tiny island off the mainland. Among the captives sold into slavery in Algiers were the island pastor, his wife and their three children. Although the raid itself is well documented, little is known about what happened to the women and children afterwards. It was a time when women everywhere were largely silent. In this brilliant reimagining, Sally Magnusson gives a voice to Asta, the pastor's wife. Enslaved in an alien Arab culture Asta meets the loss of both her freedom and her children with the one thing she has brought from home: the stories in her head. Steeped in the sagas and folk tales of her northern homeland, she finds herself experiencing not just the separations and agonies of captivity, but the reassessments that come in any age when intelligent eyes are opened to other lives, other cultures and other kinds of loving.The Sealwoman's Gift is about the eternal power of storytelling to help us survive. The novel is full of stories - Icelandic ones told to fend off a slave-owner's advances, Arabian ones to help an old man die. And there are others, too: the stories we tell ourselves to protect our minds from what cannot otherwise be borne, the stories we need to make us happy.'Icelandic history has been brought to extraordinary life... An accomplished and intelligent novel' Yrsa Sigurdardottir, author of Why Did You Lie?