Mother of Light

by Elin de Ruyter

From the untamed wilds of Iceland's far north comes a deeply heartfelt tale, inspired by the author's own midwife ancestors...
After the death of her sister to a preventable childbirth complication, Sólveig Pétursdóttir is determined to not only do better for women, but to rise above the stigma of illegitimacy she inherited. She completes her three months midwifery training and in the autumn of 1881 is posted to a remote community in the northwest of Iceland. Helping women doesn't prove easy as Sólveig contends with reaching births in the harsh and unforgiving landscape, hoping to win the trust of a community steeped in poverty and superstition, while also fighting the temptations of her own heart.
Spanning a dark period in Iceland's history known as the 'dire years', Mother of Light explores the cornerstones of the human experience - birth, death, love and belonging during a time when man lived by the seasons, not the clock and when survival sometimes meant forsaking the heart.