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A review by selenajournal
Kristin Lavransdatter, II: The Wife by Sigrid Undset
2.0
Translated from the Norweigian by Tiina Nunnally
In the second part of Kristin Lavransdatter, we see a married and respectable Kristin. The story covers quite a few years. We see Kristin enter her bridal home, Husaby, give birth to all seven of her sons and finally, fight for Erlend's freedom.
In The Wife, there were fewer of the beautiful descriptions of the landscape which I so enjoyed. Instead, we saw the day-t0-day life of a mistress. Upon entering Husaby, it is very clear to Kristin that it never truly had a mistress. Seeing her raise the value of Erlend's property, win over his servants and mature as an individual was very rewarding.
On that note though, I did not see her grow nearly as much as I hoped she would. If I'm doing the math correctly, she is in her twenties during this book and she is still quite a mess. When great things happen, she cries, when bad things happen, she cries. But I think what bothered me most is how vengeful and hateful she was toward her husband. She had gone through such strife to be with him - and now that she had that chance, all she did was hold things against him and argue with him.
There was a very strong religious focus within this book. Kristin spends a lot of her time with priests, receiving spiritual guidance. I'm not a religious person myself but this part of the book at least didn't feel forced. On the other hand, she spends more time with the priests than she does with her husband. And she is still no closer to personal forgiveness, only dwelling.
The saying goes that in a trilogy, the second book is always the weakest. And I mostly agreed with this. It felt like the reader was meant to develop deeper relationships with the Kristin and Erlend. However, I think the only character I really felt close to by the end was Simon Darre. He is the only one with clear intentions and genuine emotions.
Toward the end of the book, Kristin really devotes herself to Erlend and getting him back, even after he was unfaithful to her. I'm hoping that in The Cross we will see her relationship with Erlend mature to become a healthy one.
In the second part of Kristin Lavransdatter, we see a married and respectable Kristin. The story covers quite a few years. We see Kristin enter her bridal home, Husaby, give birth to all seven of her sons and finally, fight for Erlend's freedom.
In The Wife, there were fewer of the beautiful descriptions of the landscape which I so enjoyed. Instead, we saw the day-t0-day life of a mistress. Upon entering Husaby, it is very clear to Kristin that it never truly had a mistress. Seeing her raise the value of Erlend's property, win over his servants and mature as an individual was very rewarding.
On that note though, I did not see her grow nearly as much as I hoped she would. If I'm doing the math correctly, she is in her twenties during this book and she is still quite a mess. When great things happen, she cries, when bad things happen, she cries. But I think what bothered me most is how vengeful and hateful she was toward her husband. She had gone through such strife to be with him - and now that she had that chance, all she did was hold things against him and argue with him.
There was a very strong religious focus within this book. Kristin spends a lot of her time with priests, receiving spiritual guidance. I'm not a religious person myself but this part of the book at least didn't feel forced. On the other hand, she spends more time with the priests than she does with her husband. And she is still no closer to personal forgiveness, only dwelling.
The saying goes that in a trilogy, the second book is always the weakest. And I mostly agreed with this. It felt like the reader was meant to develop deeper relationships with the Kristin and Erlend. However, I think the only character I really felt close to by the end was Simon Darre. He is the only one with clear intentions and genuine emotions.
Toward the end of the book, Kristin really devotes herself to Erlend and getting him back, even after he was unfaithful to her. I'm hoping that in The Cross we will see her relationship with Erlend mature to become a healthy one.