Ingegjerd

With the hand of a master wordsmith, Frid Ingulstad guides the reader nearly a thousand years into the past. Where the sources are silent, she calls on her imagination to fill the gaps, with ideas both realistic and plausible. Much has changed since the time when the daughters of kings lived, loved, and suffered - both in terms of the law, views on human dignity, and in the everyday lives of women everywhere. But, people remain the same, ruled by passions and urges, love and hatred.

Ingegjerd, daughter of King Olof of Sweden, is a rebellious seventeen-year-old who dreams of marrying the Norwegian king, Olaf Haraldsson. She's never met him, but spent many years listening to the rumors that spoke of his bravery, talents, and fine good looks - the perfect husband for a princess of her breeding. As time passes, she finds herself becoming obsessed with Olaf, only to discover that her father has very different plans for her. He wants to marry her off to the Grand Prince of Kiev, to consolidate a peace treaty, and he isn't the only one who would rather see her married to the Rus' prince. Her sister, Astrid, wants the handsome Norwegian king for her own. When she finds out, Ingegjerd is furious, betrayed by her own sister. Won't she ever meet the king of her dreams?

Originally published in Norwegian by the Cappelen Damm Agency as Ingegjerd (Kongsdotrene #1). Translated to English and republished here with permission of both author and original publisher.