Stolen Away

R. Gordon Moyles is professor emeritus of English at the University of
Alberta. He is co-author of Imperial Dreams and Colonial Realities:
British Views of Canada, 1880–1914, author of The Salvation Army and
the Public, and editor of “Improved by Cult

As a fictional setting, the Viking settlements on the northern peninsula
of Newfoundland, the Vinland of the ancient Norse sagas, offer a rich
and fertile source of ideas for any storyteller. And Christopher
Dinsdale has taken advantage of the possibilities in an ingenious and
skillful way. Not only is he an excellent storyteller investing his tale
with plausible adventure, hairbreadth escapes from natural dangers, and
close encounters between hostile peoples, he also creates a
believability of character and setting and an emotional credibility that
lifts his work beyond mere story and invites the reader to share the
yearnings, disappointments, and love of the people themselves.

His main character, Kiera, is an Irish slave of the Vinland Vikings,
who dreams of somehow returning to her homeland, but eventually finds,
through a series of adventures with the native Beothucks, that perhaps
that homeland is not so far away as she had thought. The cast of
supporting characters—the Vikings themselves (not as cruel as one
might expect) and the Beothucks (especially her future husband,
Chocan)—are given an individuality that offers a suggestion of reality
and avoids the kind of stereotyping one might expect of this kind of
story.

Dinsdale has written an engaging story. Though perhaps a little too
drawn-out in some of its scenes (a shortened version might have made it
a more intense reading experience), Stolen Away is bound to be enjoyed
by young readers. Highly recommended.