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	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Annelie Geissler
Categories
Politics & government

WOMAN, CAPTAIN, REBEL

Margaret Willson

The Extraordinary True Story of a Daring Icelandic Sea Captain

A daring and magnificent historical narrative nonfiction account of Iceland's most famous female sea captain who constantly fought for women's rights and equality - and who also solved one of the country's most notorious robberies.

History would have us believe the sea has always been a male realm, the idea of female captains almost unthinkable. But there is an exception. Captain Thurídur, born in Iceland in 1777, lived a life that was both controversial and unconventional. Her first time fishing, on the open unprotected rowboats of her time, was at age 11. Soon after, she audaciously began wearing trousers. She later became an acclaimed fishing captain brilliant at weather-reading and seacraft and consistently brought in the largest catches. In the Arctic seas where drownings occurred with terrifying regularity, she never lost a single crewmember. Renowned for her acute powers of observation, she also solved a notorious crime. In this extremely unequal society, she used the courts to fight for justice for the abused, and in her sixties, embarked on perilous journeys over trackless mountains. Weaving together fastidious research and captivating prose, Margaret Willson reveals Captain Thurídur's fascinating story, her extraordinary courage, intelligence, and personal integrity. Through adventure, oppression, joy, betrayal, and grief, Captain Thurídur speaks a universal voice. Here is a woman so ahead of her times she remains modern and inspirational today. Her story can now finally be told. Margaret Willson is a cultural anthropologist and writer. She received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from the London School of Economics and Political Science and is currently Affiliate Associate Professor in the Departments of Anthropology and Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington. She is also a Senior Associate Scientist at the Stefansson Arctic Institute in Iceland. Her first book of narrative nonfiction, Dance Lest We All Fall Down: Breaking Cycles of Poverty in Brazil and Beyond (University of Washington Press 2010), recounts life in Brazil's shantytowns and the realities of co-founding (with an African- Brazilian colleague) and developing an international nonprofit that provides educational opportunities for impoverished Brazilian women and girls. That book won a Silver Medal for Multicultural Nonfiction in the Independent Book Awards. Willson's most recent book, Seawomen of Iceland: Survival on the Edge (University of Washington Press 2016) was a finalist for the 2017 Washington State Nonfiction Book of the Year for 2017. She lives in Seattle with her partner and their cat Mister.

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Book Published 2023-01-31 by Sourcebooks

Comments

A beautiful story of one woman's perseverance against tragedy, hardship, and the open seas.

Willson skillfully tracks and dramatizes the astonishing saga of fishing captain Thurídur Einarsdóttir, a nineteenth- century Icelandic hero. WOMAN, CAPTAIN, REBEL draws upon both the author's rich imagination and available historical evidence on Thurídur's life, crafting a remarkable and moving story of a woman of integrity who fought against all odds, rough seas and a hostile society. Thurídur finally receives the recognition she deserves, and fishing no longer admits the North-Atlantic cliché about the absence of women at sea.

Through rich details and beautiful sometimes poetic prose, Willson honors this remarkable, yet nearly forgotten, heroine. Willson's account moves at the pace of a page-turning novel... This exceptional biography does justice to the life of a unique woman, captain and rebel. Highly recommended.

A chance encounter on a windswept isle. A weathered plaque in an ancient community that revealed a secret. Then the door opened up to the past and the story came tumbling out, saved by the Icelandic storytelling tradition. As the author says, learning about Thurídur, an 18th century fishing captain, changed her life. Reading about this remarkable woman's journey will challenge your ideas about history and change yours too.

All credit to Margaret Willson for excavating the story of Thurídur Einarsdóttir in a century which can at long last appreciate this feisty and resilient Icelandic seafarer. The meticulous research is worn so lightly that it reads like a saga.

With her deft use of detail, Margaret Willson transports us to Iceland in the early 1800s, a harsh land of flood and famine, of boats crushed against rock by the sea. Here, Thurídur Einarsdóttir, a woman, shrugged off convention and became a fishing captain. WOMAN, CAPTAIN, REBEL is an adventure story with a woman at the center of it, a compelling portrait of a life marked by compassion, resourcefulness, and resilience.

Exhaustively researched and rich with period detail, the book is a wealth of information as well as a fascinating story.

A very strong history of Iceland and vividly portrays the challenges of their day to day lives... A great book at a very little-known place and time in history.

Meticulously researched and evocatively written, WOMAN, CAPTAIN, REBEL provides not only a captivating insight into 19th-century Iceland, but also introduces readers to the inspirational, real-life fishing captain Thurídur, a tough and fiercely independent woman who deserves to be a role model of determination and perseverance for us all.