Because I love reading debut novels, I've been scouring the list of 2006 and early 2007 debuts and discovering some really wonderful-looking books.
One of those is...
The Thrall's Tale by Judith Lindbergh
Book Description:
The Thrall's Tale is a masterpiece of historical fiction that follows Katla, a slave, her daughter Bibrau, and their mistress Thorbjorg, a prophetess of the Norse god Odin, as they navigate the stormy waters of love, revenge, faith, and deception in the Viking Age settlements of tenth–century Greenland. Lindbergh’s lyrical prose captures the tenuousness of lives led on the edge of the known world, the pain of loyalties shattered by Christian conversion, and the deepest desires hidden in the human heart. A book that has appeal for readers of fantasy and romance as well as historical and literary fiction, The Thrall's Tale is an absorbing cultural saga researched and written over ten years as Lindbergh immersed herself in the literature, artifacts, and landscape of her characters’ lives and world.
If this sounds good to you, you can:
~ read the first chapter on the author's webpage and
~ enter the contest for a chance to win a copy of the novel (for a list of prizes, scroll to the bottom of this page).
I'm not sure if I'll have time to read the book before the end of the contest, but it's definitely going on my wishlist.
In the lush redwood country of Humboldt, California, a man and a woman seek shelter from their pasts. He is an ex-L.A. cop whose life was torn apart by guilt and betrayal. She is a woman haunted by a savage attack she never should have survived. Althea Auben is a struggling single mother, holding together the ragged pieces of her life for the sake of her thirteen-year-old son. She lives in the shadow of her past, carrying the scars from the terrible night that left her brutalized, comatose, and pregnant. But David has started to rebel. He no longer believes his mother's lies about his own history. Desperate for a man in his life, he befriends Jack Verrity, who seeks privacy almost as much as Althea. Then, without warning, David disappears. Battling her paralyzing fears, Althea takes off in pursuit of her vanished son. Jack, feeling long-dormant emotions stir, begins a search of his own. It is a journey that will thrust them into a world of privilege and exclusion on Long Island's Gold Coast - and plunge Althea into the fresh terror of a long-ago summer night... 
Amid the grandeur of the remote Pacific Northwest stands Kingcome, a village so ancient that, according to Kwakiutl myth, it was founded by the two brothers left on earth after the great flood. The Native Americans who still live there call it Quee, a place of such incredible natural richness that hunting and fishing remain primary food sources. But the old culture of totems and potlatch is being replaces by a new culture of prefab housing and alcoholism. Kingcome's younger generation is disenchanted and alienated from its heritage. And now, coming upriver is a young vicar, Mark Brian, on a journey of discovery that can teach him -- and us -- about life, death, and the transforming power of love.