The Flight of Anja by Tamara Goranson, book 2 in the Vinland Viking Saga, is the sequel to The Voyage of Freydis. Anja Freydisdottir, daughter of Beothuk hunter Achak and Greenlander Freydis, comes of age on Greenland’s shores without ever knowing the truth of her parentage and birth. Anja believes Freydis is her adopted mother, and that the abusive Thorvald is her birth father who took a Beothuk lover in Vinland. Anja is stubbornly naive in her belief in Thorvald, and though perhaps she can’t be entirely blamed with his manipulation, I found her character in the first half of the book to be quite frustrating and ungrateful. She treated Freydis poorly and it is not until she escapes an unwanted marriage in Greenland and learns the truth of her Beothuk father in Vinland that she finally understands and feels love for her birth mother Freydis.
The Flight of Anja kept my on the edge of my seat and was definitely a page-turner like the first book. There were a few times when modern terms were used in describing something that momentarily broke immersion for me. Anja endures many violent trials which almost seemed too much, but I suppose that is the point. Goranson expertly draws out the tension between Anja and Bjorn, the man who nurses her back to health after a bear attack. That said, the communication (or lack thereof!) between these two characters was also quite frustrating at times, however, my frustration and want for them to admit their true feelings to each other just shows my investment in the story.
Book 3, The Oath of Bjorn, is due out December 1!
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