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The Dramatic Tale of a female avenger from the Saga Age. More than a decade before writing Kristin Lavransdatter, the trilogy about 14th century Norway that won her the Nobel Prize, Sigrid Undset published Gunnar's Daughter (1909), a brief, swiftly moving tale about a more violent period in her country's history, the Saga Age. Set in Norway and Iceland at the beginning of the eleventh century, this is the story of the beautiful, spoiled Vigdis Gennardatter, who is casually raped by the man she had wanted to love. A woman of courage and intelligence, Vigdis is toughened by adversity. Alone she raises the child conceived in violence, repeatedly defending her autonomy in a world governed by men. Alone she rebuilds her life and restores her family's honor, until an unrelenting social code propels her to take the action that again destroys her happiness. More than a historical romance, Gunnar's daughter depicts characters driven by passion and vengefulness, themes as familiar as in Undset's own time - and in our - as they were in the Saga Age.
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