"The Sealwoman's Gift" by Sally Magnusson is one of the Zoe Ball Book Club recommendations. The author is a Scottish broadcast journalist, daughter of Magnus Magnusson.This story is based on true events telling the story of Asta. The context is, in 1627 Barbary pirates raided the coast of Iceland and abducted some 400 of its people, including 250 from a tiny island off the mainland. Among the captives sold into slavery in Algiers were the island pastor, his wife and their three children. Although the raid itself is well documented, little is known about what happened to the women and children afterwards.