This story--detailing the way sin slowly works its poison through the lives of the characters--is difficult to read.

Nunnally, whose lauded translation of the epic Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy in the 1990s helped to revive widespread interest in Nobel Prize–winning Norwegian author Undset (1882–1949), translates the final installment in Undset’s subsequent medieval Olav Audunssøn tetralogy. Undset’s own favorite among her works, this weighty saga transports readers to 13th-century Norway, where clannish Old Norse traditions vie with newly ascendant church doctrines, nowhere more poignantly than in the lifelong moral struggles of the title character. Betrothed in his youth to his adoptive sister Ingunn in the first installment, Vows, Olav’s fated and impetuously consummated marriage unleashes a tumultuous chain of trials, betrayals, and violence, with consequences destined to outlive their marriage. His happiness achieved at long last, Olav ultimately reaps the whirlwind in book two, Providence, followed by Crossroads, which delves into our antihero’s reckoning of his sins, as he falteringly seeks to set his own children on a better path. Having been roused to bloody combat with invaders from the North, in Winter, Olav enters his final season facing one battle which he can never win, as he strives for a grace that cannot be grasped, but only received with open hands from a merciful God. Brushing away the cobwebs of the slightly fusty, century-old British translation, Nunnally’s straightforward, unadorned telling makes for smooth reading, no small thing in an epic tetralogy that stretches to well over 1,000 pages. Inspired by the dire, fatalistic mores of the Norse sagas and Undset’s own devout Catholicism, her towering achievement is made less forbidding in Nunnally’s welcome new translation, which is very much in keeping with the novelist’s project of deromanticizing the past, resulting in a vivid, painstakingly researched historic re-creation, less akin to the lush swashbuckling of Dumas or Scott than to the harsh, immersive naturalism of Zola.

Sigrid Undset is a fantastic writer, but I must admit that I got weary of the emotional drama. Sin and brokenness is a part of our human condition, so I felt worn thin when guilt led to self-destruction. There is a lot to be said for showing the downside of human weakness, but—deep sigh—I need some hope as well. Perhaps the next book will be both insightful and uplifting. I sure hope so.

sigrid kirjutas ainult selliseid raamatuid, mis kogu mu ülejäänud eluks minuga jäävad

The second in the 4-volume saga of "The Master of Hestviken" continues here, bringing Ingunn and Olav out of exile and into a new life together. But the hidden sins of the past remain with them, and they do not seek to purge them, either through civil or church means. An already dark saga gets darker, the already tragic ends more tragically here in volume two, but the final word is mercy, pointing to new beginnings (I hope) in the third and fourth.

I started making note of a few quotes here and there as I read through the first two thirds of the book; then there was just too much in the last third. I have so many pages dog-eared; there is so much to reflect on. Plus, meeting Kristen's father, Lavrans, was pretty great. Lots to discuss at bookclub!

This book is gorgeous- much deeper, richer, and more complex than Book one. So much to ponder. I can't begin to do this book or any book by Sigrid Undset justice in a "book review."

Oh! And I really enjoyed the meeting of Olav and Lavrans & Ragnfrid from "Kristin Lavransdatter."

A favorite quote: "The sin of all sins is to despair of God's Mercy. "

One caveat: I am reading the Kindle version of these books and I did not notice it as much with book one but with this book, I did notice a few flub ups with spelling and word confusion-- it must have happened in the transfer to the e-form but it does not in any way take away from the beauty of the book.

Loved it - the earlier volumes go slowly, and my favorite is the last volume. The book I had combined all the volumes into one book.

I wanted to start again from the beginning as soon as I finished this.

Book two of this tetralogy grapples with faith and humanity’s tendency to grapple with our conscience. While the plot does move along somewhat, most of the book centers around Olav and Ingunn’s internal torment from past mistakes. Undset’s terse prose style fits the tone of the novel. The three star rating really stems from the fact that this portion of Olav’s tale didn’t need to be this long. It’s only a 260 page book, but it does seem to be an excessive amount of pages given the content. I liked it, it’s a solid three stars, but I’m expecting a little more out of the remaining two books.

Got the book because of the title is the same as a 1948 Olivia de Haviland movie that my wife and I enjoyed (and related to). My wife came across it while packing things out of the house her mother no longer occupies. The book was originally owned by her grandfather, a Smith College professor, and then her father, so it's something of a family heirloom.

As for the book itself, I didn't realize till I started reading it that it has no connection to the movie, and it is part 2 of a 4 part series. I feel much more knowledgeable now about 13th century Norway, but I can't imagine reading books 1, 3 or 4. The writing is drudgery to work through, perhaps on purpose because it matches the lives lived by the main characters. The pace is mostly very slow and the story tends to be dark and murky, with spradic embers briefly glowing into dim light before fading again into cold darkness.

A man rapes a betrothed woman. She is too shamed to admit she has been raped and instead pretends the sex was consensual. Due to her family's shame, the boy conceived is sent to a foster family. The rapist is then travelling with her fiance and while alone attacks him. The fiance kills the rapist while defending himself, but because he gains revenge in the process he considers himself a murderer. He covers up the killing and carries guilt thereafter. Marries his betrothed and takes her to his inherited estate far away where no one knows either of them or their history. He eventually brings the boy home and publicly claiams to be the father. For some reason he cannot adopt the boy as his own, so must lie to make him his heir. The man is distinctly aware that Christ bore his sin in His scourging and redeemed him in His death, but due to Catholic policies of the time he cannot confess his sin to a priest without accepting some form of public pennance which will bring shame on his wife and cost her son the inheritance. He would have to buy absolution for his sin, as though the payment by Christ was insufficient. This theme cycles over and over through 300 pages like a cow chewing its cud.

I am curious what my father-in-law thought while he was reading this, and what his father thought. Neither was involved in raising their children.

The second book in this series has more twists and turns than I was expecting. Was anyone happy? Ever? My goodness.
The take away for me in this second book is that man can justify the most heinous things even as his soul knows the evil of them AND whatever evil you may do, will eventually crush you.
Catholics know this and run quickly to confession. Luckily, that confession will not require us to undergo great punishments as in the time period this book was set in.

It is also amazing how hard it is for man to live in peace, with anyone!