Slave Girl

10 year old daughter wanted this book as she was doing the Vikings at school. She enjoyed it so I read it and was impressed how the author skirted the nastier aspects of the story making it suitable for a child to read without losing the reality of the time

If you ever need a nice easy read with a compelling story this is it!!! Every night i read until 1 am in the morning because i can't put this book down!!!

This is an excellent read for older children, young adults and adults alike. The story follows a Scottish island girl, Hekja, who lives in a small village with her dog Snarf who protects the cows. A Viking raid however sees them taken captive and the family destroyed. Young fit slaves were valued by the Vikings as runners and after some time Hekja is put aboard a longship heading to Vinland under the leadership of Freydis Eriksdottir. The Vikings did not make maps so they have only the words of earlier sailors to follow and they narrowly avoid icebergs on the long rough journey. Snarf's nose alerts them to land and they make landfall near an abandoned cluster of longhouses. Not only the natives might be unfriendly as there are undercurrents within the expedition, and Hekja just has to rely on her owner to protect her.Another slave, Hikki, teaches Hekja how to run efficiently over long distances and since he cannot marry a Viking, we see him looking thoughtfully at the young girl and picturing their future. The colony gets established but the native people, who initially wanted to trade, resent the spread of the Vikings and launch their own raids.The world of the Vikings is well realised and small details, such as Hekja's never having worn soft wool clothes as there were no sheep on her island, draw us into her life. There are plenty of dangers but the worst of the violence is suggested rather than shown.

I bought and read this book a few years ago (when I didn't have an amazon account! ) It was one of the first few books I read out of choice and it was very intriguing and weird in a good way because I never expected to like the story as much as I did. At some point it was very emotional and the character of Hekja was beautifully writing my view. It was a brilliant read. I bought this book at the time because I was studying slavery and it book, in its own way makes sense.