Set in Norway in 1880 we follow a love triangle between the three central characters and in particular Astrid and the battles she faces living through the hardships of Norwegian winters and terrain whilst seeking a better life and future. Woven throughout the narrative are Norse stories of both myth and legend with a hint of the inexplainable.

Mytting illustrates the history and intricacies of the wooden stave church, the importance of them to their remote communities and the way they guide their everyday lives. He writes in such a way that he places a seed in our minds and urges us to confront the idea of progress and the erasure of history to make way for the new, and then challenge it. Mytting also writes about the cold and isolation in great descriptive detail, so much that you feel the chill through your veins; its transportive.

This is the first in a historical trilogy from Mytting and I'm incredibly interested to see how the timeline develops over the course of the next two books. Reading this took me back to our honeymoon, the vast beauty of Norway, and in particular the Flakstad Chuch (c. 1780) which we visited in Nordland county. Definitely an intriguing and engaging read.