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Alberta and Jacob (Revised)
Alberta and Jacob (Revised) | Cora Sandel
10 posts | 7 read | 18 to read
Hailed as a masterpiece on its British publication in 1962, this Modern Classic reissue should bring this magnificent novel to a new generation. Imaginative and intelligent, Alberta is a misfit trapped in a stiflingly provincial town in the far north of Norway whose only affinity is for her extrovert brother Jacob. Combining mastery of style and characterization with brilliant descriptive writing, this powerful story of a young woman's rebellion is universally regarded as one of the greatest novels to come from Scandinavia.
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review
merelybookish
Alberta and Jacob | Cora Sandel
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Pickpick

Published in 1926, this classic of Norwegian literature fits with the works of Woolf & Wharton. Alberta lives in a small town in the north. Her family struggles financially to uphold their middle class status. Neither Alberta nor her brother Jacob are happy, but her options for escape are fewer. She is trapped by her desire to please & an unbearable longing for more than provincial life can offer. A moving account of a frustrated young woman!

merelybookish Book 3 for #192025 challenge. Only 97 more to go. 😆 @Librarybelle 2y
BarbaraBB This is one I‘ve been meaning to read too. #1001books 2y
AmyG What a gorgeous view! 2y
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merelybookish @BarbaraBB It does pop up on those lists! Happy to send you my copy if you don't mind that it's a bit yellowed. (Bought it used.) 2y
merelybookish @AmyG Oh thank you! We feel quite lucky, especially on sunny summer days like today! 2y
BarbaraBB I‘d love that but I think it is quite pricey at the moment. I think it‘s too much trouble for you. Thanks anyway🤍🤍 2y
Librarybelle Oh! Stacking! 2y
Liz_M I enjoyed this one! I still have visual images of the described scenery in my head. 2y
merelybookish @Liz_M Yes her descriptions of the changing seasons were beautiful! Have you read the rest of the trilogy? 2y
LeahBergen And now I must really get to my copy soon. 👍 2y
Centique This is on my TBR so I‘m glad to hear more about it. And I‘m so envious of your lovely summer day. We‘ve had rain all day, gale force winds and some minor floods 😳 (not my house luckily!) And the pretty pink of your flowers! 😍 2y
merelybookish @LeahBergen I think you'd really enjoy it! 2y
merelybookish @Centique Yes, it's high summer! Even a bit of a 'heat wave' for this area, although nothing like what others are experiencing. And thank you! I love my pink geraniums! 🌺🌺🌺 2y
Graywacke Nice review. Title and author are new to me and now of interest. 2y
58 likes2 stack adds14 comments
blurb
merelybookish
Alberta and Jacob | Cora Sandel
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Porch reading in the fading light. Took me a bit to get into this one, but starting to understand why it's so beloved.

review
Liz_M
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Pickpick

Set in rural, northern Norway, this is a slow story of Alberta‘s young adulthood as her family slides into poverty. The titular siblings couldn‘t be more different and yet the parents‘ mismanagement of each cause them equal misery. There are gorgeous descriptions of scenery and light contrasting with oppressive details of Alberta‘s daily life that begins and ends in the winter darkness. Well-written, but a depressing read at the wrong time.

Suet624 You‘re right...it sounds great but not to be read at the current moment. 5y
Anna40 Ah but it still sounds great. I stacked it 5y
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batsy I bought it awhile back because it definitely sounds like my kind of book, but perhaps not quite the right time yet. 5y
BarbaraBB Agreeing to all. It‘s not the time for depressing reads 🤷🏻‍♀️ 5y
Liz_M @batsy, @Suet624 I do hope you read it in the future. Preferably in summer-time on a day off that is not due to a quarantine. 5y
Liz_M @Anna40 So glad my review didn't dissuade you. 🙂 5y
Liz_M Yes, it was a little too realistic! 5y
20 likes2 stack adds8 comments
review
CafeMom
Alberta and Jacob | Cora Sandel
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#1001books Reading around the world Norway. Originally written in 1926, this is the semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story of two siblings in Norway. I really felt for Alberta who really wanted much more from her life than was the norm for the time period. This was an interesting look into growing up in Norway.

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shawnmooney
Alberta and Jacob | Cora Sandel
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LeahBergen Love it! 6y
38 likes1 comment
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shawnmooney
Alberta and Jacob | Cora Sandel
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batsy "until she was warm and had a different face" ❤️❤️❤️ 6y
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shawnmooney
Alberta and Jacob | Cora Sandel
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32 likes1 stack add
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shawnmooney
Alberta and Jacob | Cora Sandel
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LeahBergen I really need to get a copy of this! 6y
29 likes1 stack add1 comment
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shawnmooney
Alberta and Jacob | Cora Sandel
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Oooh, Twitter has just brought this trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels by Norwegian writer Cora Sandel (1880-1974) to my awareness and I think I need to track down these exact editions with their fantastic, ever-enlarging portrait!

Info on Sandel here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cora_Sandel

batsy I have Alberta and Jacob! I haven't read it yet. 7y
47 likes1 comment
blurb
batsy
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Recent #bookmail for #booksintranslation #ReadingWomenMonth @thereadingwomen

TBR, translated from the Norwegian by Elizabeth Rokkan. The blurb says, "Imaginative and intelligent, Alberta is a misfit trapped in a stiflingly provincial town in the far north of Norway... " Trapped misfits and stifling towns? I'm so there.

vivastory I second that 8y
LeahBergen Ooo! Stacked. 8y
batsy @vivastory @LeahBergen These writers of blurbs know how to get us. 8y
40 likes5 stack adds3 comments