Freyja Book Club Questions
by Margrét Ann Thors
These questions assume everyone has finished the book and contain spoilers, including the ending.
Freyja is the kind of novel that stays with you long after the last page. It weaves a tense mystery with questions about memory, guilt, and the stories families tell themselves. Because so much of the book depends on unreliable perspectives and layered revelations, it rewards rereading and sparks genuine debate. There is no single right way to interpret what happens, which makes it ideal for book clubs.
To get the most from your discussion, use these questions as starting points rather than a checklist. Let one question lead naturally into another, and don't be afraid to revisit earlier answers as later chapters complicate things. The questions are grouped by theme, but feel free to move between groups. The goal is to explore the book together, not agree on everything.
Truth, Memory, and Belief
- 1.When Elias finally tells Unnur that Freyja is her baby sister, did you see it as a satisfying explanation for why Sandra abandoned her, or did it raise even more questions about Sandra's choices?
- 2.After thirty years, Unnur realizes that the voice saying 'I'll remember this' was her own, and that Léa pushed Freyja into the sea. How did that reframe her guilt about her sister's death?
- 3.The novel uses folklore—huldufólk, changelings, the nykur—alongside scientific skepticism. Did you read the nykur Unnur glimpses in the water and the translucent photograph of Freyja at Tommi's funeral as real, metaphor, or something in between?
- 4.Palli wrote 'The Girl Who Spoke to the Sea' as a confession hidden in adult diapers. Why do you think he chose to bury the truth in fiction, and did reading the novel-within-a-novel change how you understood the 'real' story?
Characters and Their Choices
- 5.Léa orchestrates an elaborate revenge—impersonating Unnur, dating Noi, planting evidence, and taking Lilja—because she blamed Freyja for Tommi's death. Did you find her motive believable, or did it feel disproportionate?
- 6.Did you agree with Unnur's decision to lie to Elias and point him away from the beach on the night Freyja disappeared? What would you have done differently?
- 7.Why do you think Elias kept the truth about Stella and Freyja from Unnur for so long, and was he right to make Unnur promise to 'protect Freyja no matter what' before telling her?
- 8.Did you trust Pétur when he first appeared, and did his role in the newspaper article about the break-in make you doubt him? At what point did you decide he was truly on Unnur's side?
- 9.Noi/Ndi is absent for much of the novel, then returns wanting to be part of Lilja's life and turns out to be Freyja's father too. Did you think he deserved Unnur's forgiveness and a place in this new family?
Trauma, Grief, and Motherhood
- 10.Unnur's memory is repeatedly unreliable—she forgets taking the photo at Kaffi Vest and blacks out during Lilja's questioning. Do you think her memory failures are trauma, dissociation, or deliberate self-protection?
- 11.Léa says her daughter Freyja is a changeling and that 'past is present and past is future.' How do the two Freyjas mirror each other in the story, and what does the novel suggest about how parental grief can repeat patterns?
- 12.The Barnavernd home visit is arranged to coincide with Unnur's arrest, and Soffia says Barnavernd will take care of Lilja. What is the novel saying about social systems and single mothers?
- 13.Unnur never stops looking for Freyja, even after moving abroad; she says 'Always, I looked for her.' How does her search for the lost Freyja shape her relationship with her daughter Lilja?
The Ending
- 14.At the end, the narrator accepts the offer on Elias's farmhouse and donates the proceeds to the children's hospital in memory of Tommi. Did that feel like an act of healing, atonement, or both?
- 15.The final chapter shows Unnur baking with Lilja while Pétur plays guitar, and Lilja tells people she has a sister. Does this ending feel earned, or is it too neat after all the trauma?