Karin Wahlberg

Sigrid’s Secret

On Östergården, outside the town of Sigtuna, Alrik Gårdske lives with his family: his resolute wife Bothild, the children Sigrid – who is the apple in her father’s eyes – Östen and the newborn Säbjörn, and their thralls. Bothild runs the farm with firm hand when her husband is out in war or in consultation with King Anund Jakob of Sigtuna.

Sigrid carries a secret. A secret she won’t tell anyone. The night her mother almost died while giving birth to Säbjörn, Sigrid was told to watch her little brother Östen. But Sigrid was sound asleep and didn’t notice when Östen disappeared. At dawn Sigrid went out all by herself in the woods to find her little brother. What happened then would change her life. After that Sigrid divides her life in what happened before and after “the horrible”. It is later arranged for Sigrid to marry the rich, but old, Stenkil Stenson. An arrangement which has nothing to do with love; the only purpose of the marriage is for the young bride to give birth to an heir. Again, “the horrible” reenters Sigrid’s life.

Sigrid’s Secret is a thrilling story about a young woman’s upbringing in a dramatic time, about love between a child and its parents and about the fear to lose your loved ones. Karin Wahlberg has written a captivating and finely tuned historical novel about the life around Lake Mälaren in the 11th century, the border between theViking Age and the Middle Ages.

Sigrid’s Secret is the second book in Historiska Media’s novel suite Släkten (The Family), in which well known authors tell the history of Sweden with the starting point in a fictive family and their member’s faith and destiny. Next part will be written by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg.