Set in Viking Greenland in AD 985, this dramatic historical novel focuses on the intertwined lives of three women straddling the pagan past and Christian future

A vividly imagined chronicle of love, hatred, and revenge at a time when the Vikings were exploring to new worlds, Judith Lindbergh's spectacular debut novel takes its inspiration from Old Norse Sagas and creates the riveting story of a beautiful slave, her ill-begotten daughter, and their maligned but powerful mistress.

Lindbergh spent the last ten years researching and writing The Thrall's Tale. This monumental work, illustrated with maps and accompanied by historical notes, will surely appeal to readers of Norse history and sagas as well as to fans of great historical fiction like Anita Diamant's The Red Tent and Sena Jeter Naslund's Ahab's Wife.

"Every once in a while, a writer creates a novel that opens our eyes to a lost world. Arthur Golden achieved this with "Memoirs of a Geisha," and now Judith Lindbergh has performed a similar feat...Gripping and wholly originala story that transports through time and place, but always remains anchored in the unchanging territory of the human heart."

Geraldine Brooks, author of Year of Wonders

"The Thrall's Tale is not only a wonderfully rich historical novel, it resonates strongly into our current age with its exploration of religion-driven cultures in collision. The voices of the story are pitch-perfectly convincing...Judith Lindbergh is a greatly gifted novelist and she has created an enchanted and provocative reading experience."

Robert Olen Butler, winner of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

"Lindbergh is a master storyteller, deftly weaving meticulously researched detail with unforgettable characters. This novel satisfies on every level The plot unfolds with the suspense of a thriller, and you'll stay up all night to follow the many transformations of Katla's life. With The Thrall's Tale, Judith Lindbergh emerges as one of the finest historical novelists in recent years."

Jonis Agee, author of The Weight of Dreams

"Lindbergh's epic debut novel chronicles the early Viking colonies in Greenland through the eyes of the embattled female denizens. Katla, the titular thrall born to a Christian Irishwoman enslaved in a Viking raid, emigrates with her master from Iceland to Greenland in A.D. 985. Katla's rosary sets her apart from the pagan Norse, and her beauty brings the unwelcome attention of her master's eldest son, Torvard. After he violently rapes her, she is bought and nursed back to health by the compassionate seeress Thorbjorg and eventually gives birth to a daughter, Bibrau. The three women alternately narrate the tale: Thorbjorg teaches Bibrau her mystic Norse wisdom even as she foresees the end of her way of life; Katla longs for her gentle lover Ossur and the chance to practice her Christian faith; and Bibrau, despised by her mother and mute from birth, becomes obsessed with revenge, turning Thorbjorg's wisdom against her. The final third of the book charts the conversion of the Norse colonies to Christianity, as well as the unfolding tragedies of the characters' lives. Lindbergh's language is occasionally overwrought, but her well-researched and emotional evocations of characters in a time of religious and social upheaval are dramatic and entertaining. Agent, Emma Sweeney. (Jan.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Set in Viking Greenland in 895 AD, this dramatic novel focuses on the intertwined lives of three women straddling the pagan past and Christian future: Katla, an Irish, Christian slave or thrall; Bibrau, her daughter from a violent rape; and Thorbjorg, the prophetess of the pagan god Odin who raises Bibrau.

Judith Lindbergh's work has appeared in Archaeology Magazine and in connection with the Smithsonian's exhibition Vikings:The North Atlantic Saga. The Thrall's Tale is her first novel.