Excerpt from The Thrall's Tale by Judith Lindbergh, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

At last, Einar calls the oars withdrawn. They set the sail at its tautest rig. The other ships pull close or pass us by, filling the sea as a sailing crowd. Great white billows puff up full and catch the wind. In the distance, I watch until the last of the land is gone, and only water, sky, and cloud and our ships fill my vision.

And then I breathe, not "I am leaving," but "I have gone."

Excerpted from The Thrall's Tale by Judith Lindbergh. Copyright © 2006 by Judith Lindbergh. Excerpted by permission of Plume, a division of Penguin Group, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.