The historical element is fairly good - the author clearly cares about the time period she researched. If this had been a non-fiction book, I'd probably have enjoyed it a lot more. But as a piece of fiction, it lost me.

First of all, I went into the book believing it was about Świętosława aka Queen Sigrid. But most of it isn't. The book is divided into different POVs who, in the majority, are boring men. Even when we have an interesting premise - Olav looking for his mother -, the subplot is for some reason resolved off-screen. Świętosława, when given the time to shine, turns into a protagonist that, in other circumstances, I could've rooted for. But her protagonism, as well as other parts of the novel, are diminished by the absolutely awful romance subplot. Three sisters falling in love with the same man just by looking at him? And this silly infatuation lasts for decades despite the characters having zero chemistry and, really, not even knowing each other? What a disappointment.