A review by gobblebook
The Tricking of Freya by Christina Sunley

4.0

This is a beautiful book. Sunley's writing is delightful - she plays with words skillfully and elegantly. This word-play is especially powerful in a book about people who are driven by their literary heritage. The book is beautifully and compellingly written - I stayed up past bedtime several nights reading it. Ultimately, this is a book about family, about coming to terms with family history, and about how family plays a role in an individual's identity. Freya, the main character, must come to terms with her family's history, which means digging up some dark secrets. After going to a book reading and hearing Sunley read the first few pages, I was afraid the book was going to be too much of a textbook about medieval Icelandic literature. I was afraid she had an agenda of teaching the world about this literature, and that it would detract from the story. I shouldn't have been afraid. The information about Iceland's history, geography, mythology, and poets is deftly woven into the story, and is an integral and necessary part of the story. So you get to read a great story, and at the end of it, you know something about Icelandic heritage. A truly delightful read!