The Tricking of Freya: A Novel

by Christina Sunley

Overview

A young woman obsessed with uncovering a family secret is drawn into the strange and magical landscape, language, and history of Iceland.

Freya Morris is living in New York, far removed from her family and her past, when she is summoned back to the formative place of her youth, a remote Canadian village called Gimli, where her Icelandic ancestors settled long ago. Her ancient grandmother, a woman who knows all the family stories, now clings to life. In Gimli, Freya picks up the thread of a secret—one that leads her through her history and ultimately back to Iceland. Along the way, we learn the story of her early visits to Gimli, the truth about her exuberant, mercurial aunt, and the full scope of a tragedy that shattered her childhood in an instant.

A vivid, moving story of an immigrant family and the culture of a little-known nation, The Tricking of Freya is "astonishingly accomplished . . . a bewitching tale of volcanic emotions, cultural inheritance, family sorrows, mental illness, and life-altering discoveries" (Donna Seaman, Booklist).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312429386
Publisher:	Picador
Publication date:	03/30/2010
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	649,368
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

CHRISTINA SUNLEY grew up hearing stories about her Icelandic grandparents and the massive emigration that followed a 19th century volcanic eruption. She has visited Iceland for extended stays to research and write this novel. Her short fiction has appeared in literary journals, and she has taught memoir writing and fiction at universities. She now lives in the San Francisco Bay area.

Reading Group Guide

The following author biography and list of questions about The Tricking of Freya are intended as resources to aid individual readers and book groups who would like to learn more about the author and this book. We hope that this guide will provide you a starting place for discussion, and suggest a variety of perspectives from which you might approach The Tricking of Freya.

1. This is in many ways a story about an immigrant community and the experience of living far from one's homeland. How do the Icelandic immigrants at Gimli remain connected to their Icelandic heritage? How do Freya's ideas about her ancestry evolve throughout the story?

2. Do you think Freya is more like her mother or Birdie? What aspects of each does she inherit?

3. Do you think Anna is right to keep Freya at a distance from Gimli as a girl, and from her Icelandic heritage in general? Do you think she's better off for having been raised by Anna?

4. What role do myths play for the characters in this story? Why do you think they are so important to the Icelanders and the Icelandic emigrants?

5. Do you think Birdie has Freya's best interests at heart during the time they spend together? Is she able to love Freya? Do you see any ways in which she's a good influence?

6. What are the differences between Icelandic and Canadian (or American) culture in the novel? In what ways is Freya American? In what ways is she Icelandic?

7. Consider the passage about adulthood on page 197 that begins, "Before my mother died…" What does adulthood mean to the different characters in the story, to Freya, Birdie, Anna? How does Freya's definition of it shift during the story?

8. What is the significance of the story of the tricking of Gylfi (pp 203-206)? Why do you think the author based the story's title on it? What are some of the secrets and tricks that change the course of Freya's life?

9. Why is Freya reluctant to return to Gimli for Sigga's 100th birthday?

10. Late in the story it's revealed that Freya has cyclothymia, a mild form of bipolar disorder. Was there evidence of the illness in her behavior throughout the story? Have you had any contact with bipolar disorder in your own life? Did you find the portraits of Birdie and Freya convincing?

11. How does it affect the reading experience to have the narrator addressing her imagined cousin? Why do you think the author chose this method for this story?

12. In the end, how do you think Freya feels about Birdie? Does Birdie deserve to be forgiven? Do you have more sympathy for her, or for Anna?

Editorial Reviews

Packed with delectable relationships and family secrets . . . We come away charmed, moved, and larger within, having toured a hidden world with a passionate guide.” —Joan Frank, San Francisco Chronicle

“An intricate family travelogue...This grand coming-of-age-novel boasts a dynamic set of characters and a rich bank of cultural and personal lore, making this dark, cold family tale a surprisingly lush experience.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Sparkles with the author's love of language and of her own Icelandic culture. The book's masterfully told final mysteries reveal themselves as magically as darkroom images appearing under the light.” —More magazine

“An impressive debut . . . This novel works on several levels: as a drama of family dynamics; as an immigrant story; and as a showcase for the author's broad and deep knowledge of Iceland.” —Mary Ann Gwinn, The Seattle Times

“An excellent debut . . . If all you know about Iceland is failed banks and Bjork, this is a highly readable introduction.” —Yvonne Zipp, The Christian Science Monitor

“[An] amazing debut...Like the famed poet within, Sunley's writing is truly poetic. She brings here settings alive in a way that will make you believe that you have been there and experienced it all yourself.” —BookBitch.com

“Epic... Sunley's research shines through in a story in which the landscape of Iceland is as much a character as Freya, making this an exceptional and unique coming-of-age novel. ” —Washington State Journal

“Irresistible...smoldering emotions in a cold climate.” —Telegraph Herald

From the Publisher

Sunley's debut novel is an intricate family travelogue, based in the present of Icelandic-Canadian life and the half-mythical world of her grandparents' Iceland. Sunley gives narrative reins to the granddaughter of a famous Icelandic poet, young Freya, whose memoir begins with the summer she first meets her mom's family in the Icelandic-Canadian village of Gimli. The bitter tension Freya discovers between her sensible mother and her unpredictable aunt goes deeper than personality differences, apparently tied to Aunt Birdie's role as family history keeper, her insistence that the children learn their Icelandic heritage, Norse mythology and language: "Icelandic words are tricksters. Acrobats. Masters of disguise. Shape-shifters." Equally capricious are Sunley's characters who, over 20 years of family storms and mental illnesses, pull Freya across the globe, landing her more than once in beautiful, beguiling Iceland itself. This grand coming-of-age-novel boasts a dynamic set of characters and a rich bank of cultural and personal lore, making this dark, cold family tale a surprisingly lush experience. (Mar.)

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Publishers Weekly

Freya Morris is writing to her cousin. She doesn't know who or where she is, just that she exists, or so Freya believes. Descending from a long line of poets tracing back to Iceland, Freya is recounting her life story to share some day with her missing relative. Based on an offhand comment that Freya overheard, it appears that her aunt Birdie, a nickname for Ingibjorg, gave birth at some point. Freya and her mother, Birdie's sister, live in Connecticut, and every summer they visit Gimli, a small Canadian town originally settled by Icelanders. Freya and her family are descendants of Olafur, Skald Nyja Islands, or the Poet of New Iceland. Words and poetry are very important in the Icelandic culture, so Freya's family is well respected in Gimli. As with all families, though, all is not perfect. After a freak accident, Freya is torn between a vibrant but troubled aunt and her mother, who needs and loves her. Sunley's first novel moves among the United States, Canada, and Iceland as it recounts the tale of a fascinating family. Readers learn about a little-known culture as they follow the twists and turns of Freya and Birdie through the past into the present day. For fans of first novels and readers of family sagas; recommended for public libraries.
—Robin Nesbitt

Library Journal