Our Secrets of the Sprakkar Book and Vinarterta Gift Packs include:
- Vinarterta: Vinur (Friend) Vinarterta Size (Traditional Plum) 2.75 lbs : 1.25 kg . Serves: 8-12 $49.99
- or Vinarterta: Elskan (Dear One) Vinarterta Size (Traditional Plum or Apricot) 1.4 lb or .625 kg Serves: 4-6 $29.99
- or 2X Vinarterta: Elskan (Dear One) Vinarterta Size (1) Traditional Plum, (1) Apricot
- Book: Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland’s Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World
by Eliza Reid, The First Lady of Iceland. Hardcover Book – Value $29.99 - (No extra shipping cost when the book is added to your Vinarterta Order)
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Includes premium packaging for perfect shipping to all destinations. (Shipping included for the Book Only when ordered with Vinarterta.)
Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland’s Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World
by Eliza Reid, The First Lady of Iceland Published: January 26, 2022
About the book: (as per Publisher, Simon and Schuster)
The Canadian first lady of Iceland pens a book about why this tiny nation is leading the charge in gender equality.
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.
About the Author:
Eliza Reid is a journalist, editor, and co-founder of the annual Iceland Writers Retreat. Eliza grew up on a hobby farm near Ottawa, Canada, and moved to Iceland in 2003, five years after meeting the man who later became her husband, Gudni Th. Jóhannesson. When he took office as President of Iceland on August 1, 2016, Eliza became the country’s first lady. In that capacity, she has been active in promoting gender equality, entrepreneurship and innovation, tourism and sustainability, as well as the country’s writers and rich literary heritage.
Reviews:
“Secrets of the Sprakkar is a fascinating window into what a more gender-equal world could look like, and why it’s worth striving for. Iceland is doing a lot to level the playing field: paid parental leave, affordable childcare, and broad support for gender equality as a core value. Reid takes us on an exploration not only around this fascinating island, but also through the triumphs and stumbles of a country as it journeys towards gender equality.”
– HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
“Everyone who visits Iceland quickly learns that the little country contains some of the world’s most extraordinary women, their lives rooted in a social and political culture that nurtures equality between men and women without ignoring the pleasures and complexities of family life. It’s a pleasure to see that culture marked out for us through the sometimes wry but always beautifully personal and perceptive lens of the remarkable Eliza Reid.”
— ADAM GOPNIK, author and staff writer for The New Yorker
“Writing from her unanticipated perch as First Lady of the tiny Nordic country, [Reid] uses this memoir to explain how, in her view, Iceland has come closer than any other place in the world to clutching the brass ring of gender equality.”
— The Globe and Mail
“Each time I visit Iceland I leave wondering just what it is that makes this forward-thinking nation so magical. Secrets of the Sprakkar answers that question and many more. It is a road map to a better society. Such an important book should not be this enjoyable a read. It left me feeling that a better world is possible.”
— MARK CRITCH, author of Son of a Critch and An Embarrassment of Critch’s
“Iceland’s First Lady, Eliza Reid, beautifully illuminates her adopted nation’s enlightened journey towards gender equality—a practical, principled, and progressive path that should be a model for the world. Initially an outsider from Canada, Reid skillfully interprets Iceland’s history and culture, and recounts her own experiences to make this story even more compelling and inspiring. A moving celebration of equality and a blueprint for other nations.”
— TERRY FALLIS, two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour
“Iceland is full of extraordinary women, and in this delightful and engaging book Eliza Reid will introduce you to many of them. Prepare to be charmed and enlightened by the sprakkar, and their secrets for living meaningful and fulfilling lives. And don’t be surprised if you find yourself booking a trip to visit.”
– ELIZABETH RENZETTI journalist and author of Shrewed
“Secrets of the Sprakkar is both inspiring and wholly entertaining. And Reid is a wonderful writer. I loved this book.”
MARCELLO DI CINTIO, author of Walls, winner of the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing
“Reading Secrets of the Sprakkar is like sitting down with your favorite, smartest, warmest girlfriend and hearing all about the extraordinary women, history, and culture of her tiny adopted country. Reid celebrates Iceland and its attitudes toward women while also discussing where it has some room for improvement. By the time I finished this book, I felt I had traveled to Iceland and gotten to know its beauty and quirks and, most importantly, its sprakkar.”
ANN HOOD, New York Times bestselling author
“Reid traces the links between Iceland’s high quality public child care and entrepreneurship, between the embrace of families and the championing of strong individual women, and between a rugged landscape and a forward-looking, adaptable society. This important book will stimulate persons of all genders to work towards a richer and more inclusive world.”
VINCENT LAM, Scotiabank Giller Prize–winning author of Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures
“Eliza Reid’s love letter to Iceland is, by turns, quirky, charming, surprisingly honest, always eye-opening, and highly entertaining. And though it deals with serious topics, it does so with a light touch and a wonderfully readable style. A perfect mix of memoir and current affairs. I can’t recommend Secrets of the Sprakkar enough.”
WILL FERGUSON, Scotiabank Giller Prize–winning author of 419
“It often takes someone who was once an outsider to see a country as no one else can see it. Secrets of the Sprakkar is a delightful and inspiring evocation of a beautiful country, filled with spirited insights and fascinating stories the rest of the world can use.”
MARIA MUTCH, author of Molly Falls to Earth
