HF Virtual Book Tours: Daughter of a Thousand Years by Amalia Carosella

Title: Daughter of a Thousand Years
Author: Amalia Carosella 
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Lake Union
Publish Date: February 21, 2017
Source: HF Virtual Book Tours

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "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.

In a dramatic, sweeping dual narrative that spans a millennium, two women struggle against communities determined to silence them, but neither Freydís nor Emma intends to give up without a fight."

My Two Cents:

"Daughter of a Thousand Years" is the story of two women in two different time periods. Freydis is in Greenland in the late 900s and early 1000s. She is a fervent believer in the Norse gods and is struggling to hold firm to her beliefs in light of Christianity that seems to be sweeping over her land. Pushed to defend her beliefs, Freydis will be called on to question what she will change and what she will not change to please others. 

In 2016, professor Emma is going through a challenge that echoes what Freydis faced so many years ago. She is accused of attacking Christianity, which brings into the open her struggles with hiding her pagan beliefs in order to please others such as her elected official father. As with so many dual narrative books, I definitely preferred the story line set in the past. Emma's story certainly rings true with so many of the current events happening in our world today but Freydis' world was much more interesting to me. 

Freydis as a character was also more interesting to me. Emma spends a lot of the book acting quite weak and wanting to hide rather than fight. The book opens up with her basically being dumped because she is not religious enough for her Catholic boyfriend. She also has friends and family members that seem to question her lack of adherence to religion. She doesn't really try to defend herself or stand up for her beliefs. She eventually gets there but by that point it was too little, too late for me. I did not see what she had to lose by standing up and whatever it is that she felt she might lose is barely touched on throughout the book, which frustrated me. I really wanted to know more.

Freydis, on the other hand, is an incredibly strong character. She knows what she wants and she is not afraid to defend herself. I felt like I got a much better understanding of what makes Freydis tick throughout the book. I also thought the description of her setting was much more detailed and therefore gave me a greater appreciation for the world that she was coming from and the perspective that she holds.

Overall, this was a good introduction for me to Amalia Carosella, an author that I had heard a lot about and was happy to finally get around to reading. I would love to read more of her books!