Unquestionably, though, it’s Kristin that established and continues to sustain the author’s high standing among novelists. (I haven’t read it yet but have every intention of doing so.) Kristin Lavransdatter was followed by another novel set in medieval times- The Master of Hestviken-which Undset is said to have considered an even better book. The conversion caused a sensation in then-thoroughly Lutheran Norway, but Undset stuck by her new faith, producing books on saints’ lives and a well-regarded biography of St. (Whether they live by them is another question, but in both books even the bad people are bad in distinctively Catholic ways.)īorn to atheist parents, Undset grew up agnostic and entered into an irregular marriage (her husband had a wife and three children at the time) before converting to Catholicism midway through the writing of her masterwork. But, someone might ask, in what sense is Kristin a Catholic novel? Roughly, in the same sense that Alessandro Manzoni’s The Betrothed ( I Promessi Sposi)-the only serious contender, I believe, for the title of “finest” in this particular category-can be described that way: it takes for granted, and vividly depicts, a society in which all the characters profess the Catholic faith and take Catholic values for granted. The book’s writing coincided with the author’s conversion to Catholicism. And today Kristin Lavransdatter still commands an admiring audience of readers as its inclusion in the Penguin Classics series testifies. In 1928 Undset received the Nobel Prize for literature in recognition of her achievement. The three volumes that together make up the novel made their first appearance a century ago. Sigrid Undset’s Kristin Lavransdatter is such a book, and far from being a bore, it is surely one of the most exciting works of fiction ever-to say nothing of being the finest Catholic novel. If you think a novel set in 14 th century Norway has to be dull, think again.

Kristin lavransdatter book