Love’s Second Sight
Darragha FosterParanormal romance
Available from Atlantic Bridge
ISBN: 1-931761-79-5
November 2003
| Darragha Foster grew up loving Iceland, Norse history and
mythology, and strong women. Who else would she write of,
then, but Thorgunna, sometimes called the Witch of Tiree?
This multi-layered love story is not for the squeamish. Not
only explicit, but also violent, this tale of “what if …?”
puts Thorgunna at the center of a storm stirred by lust and
love from the young explorer Leif Eriksson and by lust, love
and hatred from the long-feared Loki, Norse godlet of
mischief (and evil).
Throw in Olaf, the viciously Christian King of Norway who cannot bear a day without Tiree’s beer, vile traders who’d rather own Tiree (and Thorgunna) than merely broker the beer, and a tradition of fertilizing the fields with holidays of rampant lust. Add summer storms and winter gales, babies and wise/not-so-wise elders, the tradition of welcoming all visitors, and Thorgunna’s thorough dislike of change in any form. Stir well with erotic visions of willing and unwilling couplings, with bloody moments fitting to a time where arguments were often settled with daggers. Thorgunna, orphaned mistress of the Isle of Tiree, known throughout her world for brewing the best beer anywhere, was widowed at the age of 20 without ever meeting her husband-by-contract. Saddened at the loss of his troops’ protection of her beloved Tiree, Thorgunna is taunted by Loki in her dreams and even while awake. Her ‘second sight’ confirms that Loki is correct that she will love a seafaring explorer who lands on her island. Could Loki also be correct that Thorgunna’s love would kill her beloved? Norse and Icelandic history, the changing of the gods in power from those of the Norse to a single god heralded by the ‘White Christ,’ and day-to-day life on a self-contained island very set in its ways are woven through every strand of this story of a young woman growing into herself, learning what love means and what it doesn’t mean, discovering the depths of her friendships, her desires and her own strength. As the story builds, Thorgunna questions everything she has ever valued, even her love for Tiree. Leif, too, watches his values and his dreams evolve. Neither of them can dismiss the ties they have to each other, no matter how far apart they stray in miles and years. Loki, however, will not be dismissed – not easily and not even with great difficulty. He returns in many forms to taunt and aggravate the lovers and those close to them. Eventually – ah, but you’ll have to read it for yourself. The sense of place, the sense of history, but most of all the sense of two people caught in something they couldn’t have escaped even if they had tried keeps the reader turning those (electronic) pages.
Overall rating:
Reviewer: Chas Ridley |
