I enjoyed the story, and the story-telling followed a woman's thinking very well: circular. By the end, she had already told us of her life post-"trip out of the world of mortals." It was tempted to skim those parts, but with the reading of the previous journal entries, I know she would not be coming back. I think Gudrid told the story of her life like any of us might tell the story of ours: skipping around a bit even though we are trying to go chronologically, avoiding the tough portions and going on and on about the things that were good. I liked how the beginning prologue was written years after the ending epilogue and everything in between.

I was a little confused by the scenes that were depicted in 3rd person and italics. Were those taken from somewhere? Or are they just supposed to be setting? I don't know. I think they clarified some scenes, but also were unnecessary in other places.

I found the parts where Gudrid and Agnar have a conversation to be also quite interesting. It helped me picture the story-telling place clearly, and I could envision Agnar writing with his head bowed every time Gudrid spoke, but looking up and his quill paused above the parchment or re-set in ink while he answered Gudrid or asked her questions.

I liked the tale. We studied what we know about the trips of Erik the Red and Leif Erikson quite a bit in elementary schoo.