Eve Gwartney

Old Stone Face Eve Gwartney

Two young Danish indentured sisters, Maren and Britta, become wise beyond their years, and Maren must decide if forgiveness is real. Hanna sadly indentures her daughters, Maren and Britta, to Agner Estridsen, a wheat farmer in Denmark. He and his wife, Alia, live comfortably with their good fortune of land and prestige until a mishap rocks their comfort zone. Each day, the sisters retreat into a world of imagination prompted by a stone (Old Stone Face). The old stone becomes an object of creative thought and play. They long for it to rescue. Release from bondage is in the forecast for Maren, but not for Britta. The forest will find a different place for Britta. Dansel, their friend and mentor, lives in a world of deceit and despair, but she can heal the girls' wounds of servitude. Old Stone Face is a coming-of-age tale set in a historical Scandinavian setting. A variety of themes are woven throughout: friendship, love, compromise, education, bullying, gentrification, justice, addictions, integrity, selfishness, determination, courage, self-reliance, sickness and healing, personal responsibility, imagination, forgiveness, redemption, traditions, legacy, and family.