Kristin Lavransdatter

(Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

By: Sigrid Undset, Tiina Nunnally - translator, Tiina Nunnally, Brad Leithauser - introduction

Narrated by: Nina Yndis, Stephen Graybill

"The finest historical novel our 20th century has yet produced; indeed it dwarfs most of the fiction of any kind that Europe has produced in the last twenty years."

-- Contemporary Movements in European Literature, edited by William Rose and J. Isaacs

"As a novel it must be ranked with the greatest the world knows today." -- Montreal Star

"Sigrid Undset's trilogy embodies more of life, seen understandingly and seriously... than any novel since Dostoievsky's Brothers Karamazov. It is also very probably the noblest work of fiction ever to have been inspired by the Catholic art of life." -- Commonweal

"No other novelist, past or present, has bodied forth the medieval world with such richness and fullness of indisputable genius.... One of the finest minds in European literature."

-- New York Herald Tribune

"This trilogy is the first great story founded upon the normal events of a normal woman's existence. It is as great and as rich, as simple and as profound, as such a story should be."

-- Ruth Suckow in the Des Moines Register

Critic reviews

"We consider it the best book our judges have ever selected and it has been better received by our subscribers than any other book," says the Book-of-the-Month Club.

A Beloved Classic Reread

I first read “Kristen” in high school 75 years ago. Listening to this beautiful performance now has given me enormous pleasure.

A Long and Winding Road of Meaning

This trilogy-in-one is a creative, engaging, and convicting tale of how being offered everything we fancy turns out to be little more than a path to personal ruin.

Wonderful!

A beautiful trip back to medieval Norway. Vast and moving. A sweeping story which never loses touch with the personal element.

Memorable story, exceptionally written and impeccably narrated

From the inception, I was gripped by the tale of Kristen, and stayed enthralled to the very end.

Womanhood

It was long, and for an English speaker the names of places and people weren’t easy to remember. I found myself angry and frustrated with all the main characters often and thought how so many of their problems could have been solved through communication. Having said all of that, it was a great book which stays with you. It examines a woman’s life from beginning to end including her roles as daughter, wife and mother-her relationship with God, the world, herself and her own agency. In examining Kirstin’s life the reader is forced to examine their own and ponder universal truths about humanity and all manner of relationships. It’s not a particularly “happy” book, the realities are harsh but I’m glad I got to hear it. Her story will stay with me for a very long while, maybe forever.