Everything is turned upside down in the peaceful village world when Freyja suddenly appears one day, all the way from America. And this is hardly surprising. Her thick, black hair reaches down to her hips, her icy-blue eyes are
piercing, her lips are red and her shape perfect. She has seven trunks of clothes and her manner is colder than death. Seen through young Agga’s inquiring eyes the life of the village takes on an air of complex mystery and romance. Who is
Freyja? Agga wants to find an answer to that. Is she perhaps a fairy queen? A Viking heroine? A murderess? The Goddess of Love? The setting, a 1950s fishing village, is expertly depicted, and the characters are well-drawn. An absolutely irresistible story of female uprising before the days of feminism.

A film based on Seagull’s Laughter was premiered in December 2001, starring the German actor Heino Ferch. The film won most of Iceland’s major awards for 2001 and at its World Premiere, at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where it played in the main competition, it received the best actress award.