When most people think of Iceland, they conjure up images of stunning landscapes, geysers, and the magical Northern Lights. This pristine imagery, however, stands in stark contrast to the inspiration behind my latest English release, White as Snow (originally Náhvít jörð in Icelandic).
The story commences with a chilling discovery – an abandoned shipping container on the outskirts of Reykjavík. Inside? The bodies of four young women, and another barely clinging to life. As Detective Daníel delves into the investigation, Áróra is pulled into a web of intrigue and peril as she does a background check on a mysterious man. These parallel tracks soon intertwine, leading to unexpected and dangerous junctures.
The haunting backdrop for this novel is human trafficking – a grim reality more common in Iceland than one might expect. While the shocking element of the shipping container filled with bodies is borrowed from international incidents, the core of the story draws from real Icelandic cases of sex trafficking. To imbue authenticity and depth into the narrative, I conducted interviews with two survivors. Their harrowing experiences, along with tales from other sources, stunned me with their eerie similarities. This uniformity suggests that sex trafficking in Iceland isn’t just isolated incidents but possibly a facet of an organised network.
Iceland, with its low murder rates and close-knit communities, often exudes an aura of being near crime-free. Yet, these revelations about trafficking throw that perception into disarray. The tales of these women and countless others like them are a stark reminder that no country is immune to the dark shadows of human exploitation.
Penning White as Snow was no easy feat. The subject matter, raw and unsettling, led to many sleepless nights. Yet, there’s a glimmer of hope – by illuminating this issue through fiction, I aim to spark a dialogue, to raise awareness, and to ultimately contribute to the eradication of such heinous crimes.To every reader, I hope White as Snow not only entertains but also educates and inspires action. Because the world we envision – a world free from the clutches of human trafficking – begins with awareness and ends with collective action.
