One of the great modern sagas, and a thoroughly entrancing exploration of the past.
The 1928 Nobel Prize–winning author returns to the Middle Ages in the first volume of a tetralogy.
Of the important clans of Norway, none was more powerful than the Steinfinnssøns, “the name given to a lineage that flourished in rural districts around Lake Mjøsa during the time when the sons of King Harald Gille reigned in Norway.” A modern reader would be forgiven for not knowing that Harald was the illegitimate son of one Magnus Barefoot, eventually murdered in a vicious civil war by another of Magnus’ “wayside bastards.” So it was with the Steinfinnssøns, a tough bunch who were quick to take up arms. Adopted into the clan as a boy, Olav Audunssøn is betrothed to the clan leader’s daughter Ingunn Steinfinnsdatter, the daughter of a woman who that leader had stolen away from another powerful warlord. The legality of their marriage was therefore always up to challenge, a problem passed on to Olav and Ingunn, since they were sealed when Steinfinn, Ingunn’s father, was staggering drunk. When Olav decides to finalize the arrangement, though, the Steinfinnssøns say that it was all in jest; as an elder tells him, “we now need to bind ourselves through marriage agreements to men who wield power and have powerful kinsmen, neither of which you have.” That repudiation sets tragedy in motion: Olav, having inherited his late father’s battle axe, buries it into a cousin of Ingunn’s, forcing him to take to the outlaw trail. It won’t be the only death on his hands: A later victim will be the father of Ingunn’s child, sired while Olav was on the run. Undset sends abundant signals that, come the next volume, the reunion of Olav and Ingunn won’t be happy. Undset’s novel has been available in English translation for decades, but Nunnally’s new version is fluid and readable in contrast to its predecessor’s rather stilted prose. In all events, the novel is a pleasure to read, elegant and often beautiful despite its morose tone and spasms of violence.
One of the great modern sagas, and a thoroughly entrancing exploration of the past.Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5179-1048-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Univ. of Minnesota
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2023
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.
A French art historian’s English-language fiction debut combines the story of a loving relationship between a grandfather and granddaughter with an enlightening discussion of art.
One day, when 10-year-old Mona removes the necklace given to her by her now-dead grandmother, she experiences a frightening, hour-long bout of blindness. Her parents take her to the doctor, who gives her a variety of tests and also advises that she see a psychiatrist. Her grandfather Henry tells her parents that he will take care of that assignment, but instead, he takes Mona on weekly visits to either the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, or the Centre Pompidou, where each week they study a single work of art, gazing at it deeply and then discussing its impact and history and the biography of its maker. For the reader’s benefit, Schlesser also describes each of the works in scrupulous detail. As the year goes on, Mona faces the usual challenges of elementary school life and the experiences of being an only child, and slowly begins to understand the causes of her temporary blindness. Primarily an amble through a few dozen of Schlesser’s favorite works of art—some well known and others less so, from Botticelli and da Vinci through Basquiat and Bourgeois—the novel would probably benefit from being read at a leisurely pace. While the dialogue between Henry and the preternaturally patient and precocious Mona sometimes strains credulity, readers who don’t have easy access to the museums of Paris may enjoy this vicarious trip in the company of a guide who focuses equally on that which can be seen and the context that can’t be. Come for the novel, stay for the introductory art history course.
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9798889661115
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Europa Editions
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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