Secrets of the Sprakkar
Iceland's Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World
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3.7 • 6 Ratings
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER!
"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
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 makes many women's experience there so positive? Why has their society made 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? And how can we learn from what Icelanders have already discovered about women's powerful place in society and how increased fairness benefits everyone?
Eliza Reid, the 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. Reid's own experience as an immigrant from small-town Canada who never expected to become a first lady is expertly interwoven with interviews with dozens of sprakkar ("extraordinary women") to form the backbone of 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. Secrets of the Sprakkar is a powerful and atmospheric portrait of a tiny country that could lead the way forward for us all.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Reid, a Canadian who is married to the president of Iceland, combines memoir, feminist history, and travelogue in this immersive look at what makes her adopted home "the planet's finest country for women." Sprakkar, in the title, refers to an ancient Icelandic term for "extraordinary or outstanding women," among them former president Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, the "world's first democratically elected female head of state" in 1980, and Jamaican immigrant Claudia Ashanie Wilson, who in 2016 became the first foreign-born woman to pass the bar exam and qualify as a practicing attorney in Iceland. Reid also recalls meeting her future husband, historian Gudni Jóhannesson, while studying at Oxford in 1998, and recounts his meteoric rise to the presidency after the 2016 "Panama Papers" scandal implicated the country's prime minister and cabinet members. Throughout, Reid reflects on Iceland's history, generous parental leave policy, and strengths as a nation of less than 370,000 people ("change is easier to demand, to implement, and to measure"), while offering an intimate look at her career and life as a mother of four. Laced with frank discussions of domestic abuse, intersectionality, and other complex issues, this is a winning portrait of a country at the forefront of the fight for gender equality.
Customer Reviews
Interesting and Thoughtful
I learned so much about Iceland and it’s strong women striving for equality. I have visited once and want to return with my new insight.