Jenny

Sigrid Undset · 1882–1949 · Norway

Originally Jenny (Norwegian)

Why it matters

Before the Middle Ages claimed her, Undset's breakthrough novel followed a young Norwegian painter in Rome undone by love, ambition, and an unwanted pregnancy. Its frank treatment of a woman's sexual and creative frustration scandalized genteel Norway on publication.

At a glance

A more straightforward contemporary narrative than her medieval epics.