I was browsing a bookstore in Reykjavik when I picked up the Laxdala Saga. In its opening pages, I met Unn the Deep-Minded — and I was thunderstruck. Here was a woman who did extraordinary, courageous things to bring her family to safety in Iceland. A woman married to the founder of Dublin. What a life. I couldn't let go of her. That brief description hinted at someone remarkable, and within a week I had decided to tell her story. A plot took shape quickly in my mind, but the

Unn’s Saga is really two intertwined stories. One is the account of Unn the Deep-Minded, told in her own words. Who does she tell it to? A therapist! Ina Pelletier, PhD, is contemplating hanging it up. Still, she keeps her private practice going in a small New Mexico town. She keeps her life quite private and socializes little. Only her best friend, Lety, shares her big-city sophisticated background and knows her secrets. Ina holds on to her hurt over her divorce, and she ha

Who was Unn? Why write about her? Unn’s saga is in part a ghost story. The ghost and many of her family and friends existed in the ninth century. All the 20th century characters are fictional. Here is what we know of her life from the sagas and cultural/historical study: Unn the Deep-Minded was a real woman. She is a key founding ancestor of Iceland, and her story is told at the beginning of the Laxdala Saga. As far as we know, she grew up in western Norway, one of five chil

Unn: Book club discussion ideas R’s sister Sara is both alarmed by her sister’s episode in Iceland and also somewhat weary. Have you ever had someone for whom you both had concern and irritation? Unn could be a ghost or a thought disorder. If someone you know presented this to you, what would you think? What would you do if a close relative or person told you they thought there was someone else directing their actions? Ina lives in a community where Lety says she doesn’t