I just finished this novel by Posie Graeme-Evans. Freya Dane, the main protagonist, inherits a a small island off the Scottish coast with a several hundred year old house on the grounds. Her father, an archaeologist, had left Freya the land, along with a letter explaining his finds, and a request for her to carry on his excavation of the grounds. He had believed the lower layer of the house dated back to ancient times, before the first millennium, and the letter ends with the cryptic request for her to ” please search for the grave and the tomb. I am convinced that…” She is left with the mystery of the island and, of course, takes on the challenge, and begins to experience visions of a young girl’s life during the ninth century. The novel alternates between present day and ninth century life, complete with Viking raids, bloody battles, betrayals and romance. It does contain rather graphic descriptions of violence and is for not the faint of heart.
