Madame Dorthea - Sigrid Undset

«Madame Dorthea» is Sigrid Undset's (1882-1949) last work of fiction, based on the life of her maternal family in the last decade of the 18th century. The novel's title character is a tender and self-sacrificing mother of a large family, whose unfortunate fate tests her, but whose strong nature and sense of responsibility towards her children do not allow her to break. She draws strength from love, which even the most severe trials cannot erase. The novel's rich gallery of characters provides an overview of the colorful human types of Norwegian society of the past, and the tense relationships between them create a thunderous atmosphere, where the confrontation of people often ends in sharp conflict. The book also provides a characteristic picture of the cultural environment and customs in Norway, which is particularly vividly revealed in the description of a wedding held on a large farm.