We’re so pleased to see a few of our authors’ titles on Indigo’s list of Most Anticipated Books of 2021, including Eliza Reid’s SECRETS OF THE SPRAKKAR and Toufah Jallow’s TOUFAH: THE WOMAN WHO INSPIRED AN AFRICAN #METOO MOVEMENT!!
To see the full list, please go to: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/coming-soon/
More about SECRETS OF THE SPRAKKAR: The Canadian first lady of Iceland pens a book about why this tiny nation is leading the charge in gender equality, in the vein of The Moment of Lift.
Iceland is the best place on earth to be a woman—but why? For the past twelve years, the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report has ranked Iceland number one on its list of countries closing the gap in equality between men and women. What is it about Iceland that enables its society to make such meaningful progress in this ongoing battle, from electing the world’s first female president to passing legislation specifically designed to help even the playing field at work and at home? The answer is found in the country’s sprakkar, an ancient Icelandic word meaning extraordinary or outstanding women.
Eliza Reid—Canadian born and raised, and now first lady of Iceland—examines her adopted homeland’s attitude toward women: the deep-seated cultural sense of fairness, the influence of current and historical role models, and, crucially, the areas where Iceland still has room for improvement. Throughout, she interviews dozens of sprakkar to tell their inspirational stories, and expertly weaves in her own experiences as an immigrant from small-town Canada. The result is an illuminating discussion of what it means to move through the world as a woman and how the rules of society play more of a role in who we view as equal than we may understand.
What makes many women’s experiences there so positive? And what can we learn about fairness to benefit our society?
Like influential and progressive first ladies Eleanor Roosevelt, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Michelle Obama, Reid uses her platform to bring the best of her nation to the world. Secrets of the Sprakkar is a powerful and atmospheric portrait of a tiny country that could lead the way forward for us all.
Eliza is represented by Samantha Haywood.
More about TOUFAH:
“This powerful story shouldn’t be missed.” Publishers Weekly (starred)
“A fiercely readable, potent memoir of a survivor who refuses to be silenced. . . . An inspirational page-turner.” Kirkus Reviews (starred)
Toufah is the story of an inspiring young woman who, after she was forced to flee to Canada from her home in The Gambia, bravely bucked taboo and named herself as a survivor of a sexual assault by the country’s dictator—launching an unprecedented protest movement.
In 2015, Toufah Jallow was the nineteen-year-old daughter of the second wife in her Muslim father’s polygamous household. Her mother, outwardly conforming, had made sure that her daughter was educated and had ambitions of her own. Dreaming of a scholarship, Toufah entered a presidential competition designed to identify the country’s smart young women and won.
Which brought her to the attention of Yahya Jammeh, the country’s dictator. First, he proposed marriage. When Toufah turned him down, Jammeh drugged and raped her. Toufah could not tell anyone what had happened. Not only was there no word for rape in her native language, Jammeh’s critics were routinely imprisoned, tortured and murdered. To protect herself and her family, she escaped across the border to Senegal, eventually finding refuge in Canada.
Then Jammeh was deposed and, in July 2019, Toufah Jallow became the first woman in The Gambia to make a public accusation of rape against him. Her testimony sparked marches of support and launched a social media outpouring of shared stories among West African women, setting Toufah Jallow on the path to reclaiming the future that Yahya Jammeh had tried to steal from her.
Toufah is represented by Marilyn Biderman.