The Sealwoman's Gift - by Sally Magnusson (Paperback)

About the Book

"In 1627, Barbary pirates raided an island off the Iceland coast - and abducted the 400 inhabitants into slavery in Algiers. Among them was a pastor, his wife and their three children. The pastor was sent back on a failed mission to seek ransom. But what actually happened to the women and children - what was their fate? Captive in an alien Arab culture, the pastor's wife meets the unravelling of her identity and the least bearable of losses - her three children - with the one thing she has brought from home: the sagas and folktales in her head."

Book Synopsis

'REMARKABLE' Sarah Perry 'EXTRAORDINARILY IMMERSIVE' Guardian 'EPIC' Zoe Ball Book Club 'A REALLY, REALLY GOOD READ' BBC R2 Book Club' 'LYRICAL' Stylist 'POETIC' Daily Mail

1627. 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 Giftspeaks across centuries and oceans about loss, love, resilience and redemption.

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

'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

Review Quotes

accomplished...enthralling...This is the best sort of historical novel--Allan Massie, The Scotsman

A lyrical tale full of the Icelandic stories that Asta tells her children and her kidnappers--Stylist

An engrossing and accomplished novel--The Last Word Book Review

An evocative, striking new novel ... which brings an Icelandic historical tragedy, and in particular, Icelandic woman Asta Egilsson, back to pulsing life.--Stephen McGinty, Times

An impressive debut from Magnusson who seems to have inherited her Icelandic ancestors' talent for beguiling storytelling--The Herald

Captivating--Scots Magazine

Compelling stuff--Good Housekeeping

Engrossing, atmospheric--Sunday Express

Excellent--Dumfries and Galloway Life

Icelandic history has been brought to extraordinary life. I was swept up in the story and the vivid plight of people taken away from everything they knew and understood. An accomplished and intelligent novel.--Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, author of WHY DID YOU LIE?

Magnusson's prose never falters ... What an exceptional and moving fiction debut this is.--Elle Thinks blog

Remarkably accomplished...The true story behind the novel is almost preposterously epic, yet she brings it to life by inhabiting the minds of her characters--David Robinson, The Scotsman

'Sally Magnusson has taken a little-known historical event - the Barbary corsair raid on Iceland in 1627 - and produceda moving story of suffering and redemption. Her tale of Ásta, the Reverend's wife, indomitable survivor of tragedy and heartbreak, is vivid and compelling'--Adam Nichols

A compelling read...While a historical novel, it also contains contemporary resonances, particularly in the way it examines how different people integrate into a society that is completely foreign to them--Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller

A rich, captivating work--Mail on Sunday

A remarkable feat of imagination that transports the reader to 17th-century Iceland and Algiers ... an extraordinarily immersive read that emphasises the power of stories, examining themes of motherhood, identity, exile and freedom. Through her deft storytelling, Magnusson takes us on a journey that not only crosses continents, but encompasses tragedy and rich sensuality.--Sian Norris, Guardian

An astonishing novel that will stay with me for a long time...Asta Thorsteinsdottir is a truly remarkable and resourceful heroine--Waterstones Book Blog

Fascinating ... a really, really good read--BBC Radio 2 Book Club

From the first, it leaps from the page... I found myself absolutely persuaded by Ásta's extraordinary journey from the harsh Icelandic coast to the strange and splendid palaces of Algiers. I enjoyed and admired it in equal measure--Sarah Perry, author of THE ESSEX SERPENT

I have been banging the drum for The Sealwoman's Gift for a solid year now, still recommending it to every person I possibly can - and it was the first book on this list, the only absolute certainty from the beginning. A stunning debut novel, it is based on the true story of 17th century Icelanders who were kidnapped and sold as slaves in North Africa. The writing is beautiful, the sense of time and place once again at the top of the author's list of many talents, and the magical-realism of the Sealwoman utterly convincing.--Cultured Vultures

Inspired by the country's literary sagas, the novel's heart-wrenching fiction is built around the bloodied bones of fact, words hauled from written records of the 17th century--Sunday Post

Magnusson has certainly done her research, and she has found in the silences of the historical record the space for a novel that moves gracefully between what is known and what must be imagined...Much of the pleasure of reading The Sealwoman's Gift is that of a good yarn well told.--TLS

Moving, accomplished ... Richly imagined and energetically told, The Sealwoman's Gift is a powerful tale of loss and endurance--Sunday Times

Much more than simply a vividly-imagined historical novel, but a personally touching meditation on the choices we're forced to make in life--Lonesome Reader

Packed with detail and characters, Sally's immersive prose and precise observations entwine you in the action and emotion of this dramatic tale. An absolute triumph of imagination--Press Association

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. --Zoe Ball Book Club

Sally Magnusson has turned this grim true story into a page-turner...beautifully told.--Radio Times

Sally Magnusson writes compellingly of the psychological and physical shocks of being uprooted. Impeccably researched, this is a poetic retelling of Icelandic history.--Daily Mail

Sally Magnusson's wonderfully accomplished first novel is an enthralling mixture of recovered history and the imagining of lost lives. It's a delightful piece of storytelling which is also a story about telling stories.--Yorkshire Post

Sally Magnusson's wonderfully accomplished first novel is an enthralling mixture of recovered history and the imagining of lost lives. It's a delightful piece of storytelling which is also a story about telling stories ... In short, this is the best sort of historical novel--Scotsman

There's something so wonderful about being wholly drawn into a richly imagined historical novel that both illuminates a somewhat forgotten or not-widely-known period of history and gives voice to people who are only glancingly referred to in the history books ... this novel brilliantly engages with many of the heartrending conflicts a woman in Asta's position must have faced while also powerfully illuminating the cultural importance of storytelling and the complicated dynamics of love--Lonesome Reader

This psychological depth, along with engaging prose and meticulous research into the history on which this novel is based, makes The Sealwoman's Gift another contender for my books of the year--Annethology

This is the best sort of historical novel. It respects the past and brings it alive.--The Scotsman

About the Author

Bestselling author, journalist and broadcaster Sally Magnusson has written several books for adults and children, most recently her Sunday Times bestseller Where Memories Go (2014) about her mother's dementia, The Sealwoman's Gift (2018), her acclaimed debut novel, The Ninth Child (2020) and Music in the Dark (2022). Sally lives outside Glasgow.