Sally Magnusson’s debut novel was published in February 2018 by Two Roads, an imprint of John Murray Press.
Set in Iceland and Algiers in the 17th century, The Sealwoman’s Gift re-imagines the true story of a pirate raid on one of the tiny Westman islands, when four hundred Icelanders were violently abducted into slavery in north Africa – among them a pastor and his wife and children.
Captive in an alien Arab culture, the pastor’s wife meets the unravelling of her identity and the least bearable of losses with the one thing she has brought from home: the stories in her head. Until one day she is faced with an impossible choice.
Shortlisted for the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award 2019, the Paul Torday Memorial Prize, the McKitterick Prize, the Waverton Good Read Award, the HWA Debut Fiction Crown and the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year. It was chosen for ITV’s Zoe Ball Book Club and the Radio 2 Book Club.
‘Moving, accomplished … Richly imagined and energetically told, The Sealwoman’s Gift is a powerful tale of loss and endurance.’ (Sunday Times)
‘An extraordinarily immersive read that emphasises the power of stories, examining themes of motherhood, identity, exile and freedom.’ (Guardian)
‘An enthralling mixture of recovered history and the imagining of lost lives … this is the best sort of historical novel.’ (Scotsman)
‘Magnusson has found in the silences of the historical record the space for a novel that moves gracefully between what is known and what must be imagined…Much of the pleasure of reading The Sealwoman’s Gift is that of a good yarn well told.’ ( The Times Literary Supplement)
Sally Magnusson 