Secrets of the Sprakkar

Iceland’s Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World

By: Eliza Reid

Narrated by: Ann Richardson

Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2022 Eliza Reid (P)2022 Tantor

Poor narration

Narrator’s voice detracted from the book and made it very difficult to listen. I almost quit listening many times.

Good book

I love all of the women’s empowerment stories but I don’t understand the author referring to herself as a cis woman instead of just a woman. Empowering women and then calling yourself a cis woman are contradictory in my opinion.