"They can do what they like with folks like us. I suppose we should be thankful for being allowed to live"
By sally tarbox on 8 October 2017
Format: Kindle Edition
"They can do what they like with folks like us. I suppose we should be thankful for being allowed to live"
By sally tarbox on 7 Oct. 2017
Format: Kindle Edition
Written in the early part of 20th century, this novel tells the life of an unfortunate child brought up in adverse circumstances.
The illegitimate daughter of a single girl living at home, Ditte is burdened from the start. And when her mother shows no interest in the baby and moves away, Ditte is given a poor - but loving- home by her grandparents.
But as the years pass and adversity strikes, Ditte finds herself once more with her cruel mother - now married and with a family. But tensions remain, in particular the whereabouts of a sum of money paid to the grandparents by Ditte's natural father to get out of marriage...
This could have been a sentimental almost-Victorian tale - with chapters entitled 'Little Mother Ditte' and 'Rain and Sunshine', one almost expects it. However it's a powerful and beautifully written narrative; in style it's reminiscent of other Nordic authors of the time like Knut Hamsun and Halldor Laxness. ( )