Freyja

A debut novel about the disappearance of a girl and her friend's reckoning with her complicity twenty years later.

Years ago, a child went missing. Now it might happen again.

Unnur is a single mother to her beloved daughter, Lilja, and lives a deliberately quiet life in Reykjavík, working at a bakery under a fake name and trying to forget the last summer of her childhood. But when her ex-husband returns to Iceland with his new girlfriend, Unnur's carefully crafted reality begins to fray.

Because years ago, Unnur's childhood best friend, Freyja, disappeared and maybe this new woman had something to do with it. Maybe she might do the same thing to Unnur's daughter.

Faced with the risk of losing her daughter, Unnur must look to her past and remember what happened all those years ago. Where did Freyja go? And what did Unnur do?

Steeped in Icelandic folklore and myth, Freyja is at once a gripping story of a child's disappearance, a testament to the power of a mother's love, and an enthralling tale of redemption and forgiveness from a gifted new voice.

Review

A thrilling mystery under a cold Icelandic sun. Heavy with a dark, haunting atmosphere. This beauty is an absolute page-turner - I was hooked from the very first page! ― Satu Rämö

Freyja is such an elegant and confident debut. Margrét Ann Thors depicts a mother's love as both fierce and fearsome, making the story feel mythic and grounded at once. An Icelandic tale, a haunting mystery, and a paean to the messy bonds of family. ― Victor LaValle, author of Lone Women

A spectacularly eerie crime novel that draws on the mysteries of Icelandic folklore to deepen the uncertainties at its heart, Freyja had me turning pages late into the night! ― Hannah Kent, author of Burial Rites

An eerie novel that will keep you up late into the night. Unnur is desperate to escape the past and protect her young daughter, but she will learn that memory is fickle and changelings lurk in the shadows. Margrét Ann Thors beautifully evokes Iceland, with its cold winds, wave-battered cliffs, and mysterious folk tales. Gripping and heartfelt. ― Eowyn Ivey, author of The Snow Child

Mythic and atmospheric, Freyja tingles the senses like an incipient freeze. I love an icy noir that builds complicated relationships and unique settings, and Freyja fits the bill perfectly. A twisty, compelling read. ― Janelle Brown, author of What Kind of Paradise

A haunting, hypnotic novel that circles the slippery nature of memory and the fierce, disorienting terrain of motherhood. For readers of The School for Good Mothers and The Push, Freyja unfolds in a world where the past refuses burial and the land itself feels alive with old, watchful secrets. Margrét Ann Thors writes with a sharp, unflinching clarity about guilt, love, and the devastating cost of what we cannot remember. I couldn't look away. ― Chelsea Bieker, author of Madwoman

A dark, glittering jewel of a debut. Steeped in lyricism and Icelandic folktales, Margrét Ann Thors has written a tightly wound, gripping novel about the intricate ways memories and myths entwine. Freyja is a singular novel about motherhood, grief, and the search for home not only in a place, but in the ones we love. ― Crystal Hana Kim, author of The Stone Home

About the Author

Margrét Ann Thors is an Icelandic-American writer based in Reykjavík, Iceland. She received her MFA from Columbia University and teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in the English department at the University of Iceland. Her writing has appeared in Glamour, Creative Nonfiction, Ós Pressan, Storychord, and other outlets. Freyja is her debut novel.