4.0
The Wife
ByPublisher Description
First published in 1921, “The Wife” is the second book in the “Kristin Lavransdatter” trilogy by Sigrid Undset, the Norwegian author and winner of the 1928 Nobel Prize for Literature. Undset’s award was primarily based on this series, which depicts the life of Norwegian woman from her childhood to her death in the 14th century. The first book in the series, “The Wreath”, follows the young Kristin as she clashes with her family, who are religious and prosperous farmers, while she falls in love with, and eventually marries, a man that her parents do not approve of. In “The Wife,”, Kristin finally faces adult responsibilities and concerns as she makes a life with her husband. She atones for the sins of her youth and rises to the challenges of raising a large family and running an estate while married to an irresponsible and impulsive man. Kristin’s love and loyalty for her foolish husband is greatly tested and she learns the hard way what challenges await her and what sacrifices will be required of her. “The Wife” is a riveting and satisfying portrayal of a woman coming into her own as well as a fascinating glimpse into a long since past medieval world. This edition follows the translation of Charles Archer.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Wife Reviews
4.0
“Book 1 was on my of favorites of all time, book 2 almost killed my reading phase and took 5ever to finish.
The story is great, but there is like 200 pages of historical context/slow story in the middle of this one. Once I got past that it was as great as always. Fingers crossed for a better book 3.”
“So emotional. This second installment of the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy was so sad. The first dealt with Kristin's big mistake and how deeply it affects everyone in her life. The Wife tells the story of her marriage and children, the man her father wanted her to marry (she didn't), comes back into her life and helps not only her but also her husband through a difficult and dangerous time. Some chapters focused on other major characters, telling the story from their point of view and feelings. Religious themes were woven throughout and since Christianity was fairly new to Norway, only a few generations old, there were some stark differences. After all, mideviel people were very different from modern and this book did a good job of making you actually feel the pain when a person did not live up to religious and familial expectations.”
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