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Shop nowWomen of the Dunes
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Learn moreFrom the author of the acclaimed novels The House Between Tides and Beyond the Wild River, a rich, atmospheric tale set on the sea-lashed coast of west Scotland, in which the lives of a ninth-century Norsewoman, a nineteenth-century woman, and a twenty-first-century archaeologist weave together after a body is discovered in the dunes.
Libby Snow has always felt the pull of Ullaness—a lush Scottish island enshrouded in myth and deeply important to her family. Her great-great-grandmother Ellen was obsessed with the strange legend of Ulla, a Viking maiden who washed up on shore with the nearly lifeless body of her husband—and who inspired countless epic poems and the island's name.
Central to the mystery is an ornate chalice and Libby, an archaeologist, finally has permission to excavate the site where Ulla is believed to have lived. But what Libby finds in the ancient dunes is a body from the Victorian era, clearly murdered . . . and potentially connected to Ellen.
What unfolds is an epic story that spans centuries, with Libby mining Ellen and Ulla's stories for clues about the body, and in doing so, discovering the darker threads that bind all three women together across history.
Sarah Maine was born in England but grew up partly in Canada before returning to the United Kingdom, where she now lives. She is the author of The House Between Tides, Beyond the Wild River, and Women of the Dunes.
Ruth Urquhart trained at East 15 Acting School and has spent the last twenty years working as an actor in theater, film, TV, and education. She is an Audible Approved Producer and has narrated over 100 titles. Among many other things, she has toured internationally and appeared in an Irish sitcom Give My Head Peace and the feature film Puckoon. She runs her own theater company and is a published playwright (Tea with Mrs. Pankhurst). Her forte is character work, and she has an excellent ear for accents. A native Scot, she was raised in Scotland with English parents; she quickly became bilingual in English and Scottish accents, speaking in an English accent at home and a Scottish one at school. She loves narrating audiobooks and has recorded a wide variety of genres requiring all sorts of different characters and dialects. She lives in Yorkshire, England, with her partner, two children, and an array of animals.
Reviews
"Urquhart voices the entire emotional range of these people - innocent children, angry men, victimized women - and shines especially in telling Libby's present-day tale." -Booklist, starred audio review Expand reviewsWant the printed book?
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