Set in the rural landscape of Southern Sweden where she lived, this is Victoria Benedictsson's first novel (1885). Selma Berg, a complicated heroine whose fate has much in common with Madame Bovary, develops from a naïve girl into a woman desperate enough to destroy her respectability by leaving her husband. She is forced to give up her dream of going to art school when her uncle persuades her, at sixteen, to marry a rich older squire who is an incurable womanizer. Profoundly shocked by her wedding night and by the mercenary nature of the marriage, she finds herself trapped in a life of idle luxury. Her only pleasure is her friendship with her cousin Richard. Their mutual regard seems destined to lead them into adultery, but Selma resists, and chooses instead to break away in a search for self-fulfillment. Money's qualities of naturalism and implicit feminism place it firmly within the radical literary movement of the 1880s known as Scandinavia's Modern Breakthrough. An impassioned, intelligent, and curiously neglected work."" Kirkus Reviews
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Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Swedish
Original Language: Swedish
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Thumping Good Read,
By A Customer
This review is from: Money (Norvik Press Series B) (Paperback)
Thanks to Norvik Press for making this novel (among others) available in English. Benedictsson's tale of an innocent girl manipulated into a marriage she's neither ready nor suited for is a page-turner. Selma Berg is not your stereotypical 19th century heroine - she's neither a victim, a doormat, nor a "gentle parasite," to borrow a phrase from Thackeray. She's not a paragon of virtue, either - like all the characters in the book, Selma has her share of flaws, but ultimately she's a protagonist you can like and even admire. A feminist writer who ranks with Karin Michaelis and Amalie Skram, Victoria Benedictsson deserves a wider readership.
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