And still the research continues and it's a joy. After four years of background stuff, the process has become habitual: I  I drive on with a first draft, inventing detail by 'living' in the imaginative space. Afterwards, research serves to confirm it's true! So often it also adds something special that drives the story on. Research that embroiders without moving the plot forwards makes for a very leaden read.

This exhibition in Reykjavik (photo courtesy of the Maritime Museum and link below) reveals that what unites women across the ages is that the sea gives them total freedom: despite losing the odd fingernail. 

http://www.maritimemuseum.is/english/news/news/nr/552/seawomen---the-fishing-women-of-iceland,-past-and-present/