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
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
A welcome literary resurrection that deserves a place alongside Wright’s best-known work.
A falsely accused Black man goes into hiding in this masterful novella by Wright (1908-1960), finally published in full.
Written in 1941 and '42, between Wright’s classics Native Son and Black Boy, this short novel concerns Fred Daniels, a modest laborer who’s arrested by police officers and bullied into signing a false confession that he killed the residents of a house near where he was working. In a brief unsupervised moment, he escapes through a manhole and goes into hiding in a sewer. A series of allegorical, surrealistic set pieces ensues as Fred explores the nether reaches of a church, a real estate firm, and a jewelry store. Each stop is an opportunity for Wright to explore themes of hope, greed, and exploitation; the real estate firm, Wright notes, “collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent from poor colored folks.” But Fred’s deepening existential crisis and growing distance from society keep the scenes from feeling like potted commentaries. As he wallpapers his underground warren with cash, mocking and invalidating the currency, he registers a surrealistic but engrossing protest against divisive social norms. The novel, rejected by Wright’s publisher, has only appeared as a substantially truncated short story until now, without the opening setup and with a different ending. Wright's take on racial injustice seems to have unsettled his publisher: A note reveals that an editor found reading about Fred’s treatment by the police “unbearable.” That may explain why Wright, in an essay included here, says its focus on race is “rather muted,” emphasizing broader existential themes. Regardless, as an afterword by Wright’s grandson Malcolm attests, the story now serves as an allegory both of Wright (he moved to France, an “exile beyond the reach of Jim Crow and American bigotry”) and American life. Today, it resonates deeply as a story about race and the struggle to envision a different, better world.
A welcome literary resurrection that deserves a place alongside Wright’s best-known work.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-59853-676-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Library of America
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
BOOK TO SCREEN
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