An unfrocked minister's picaresque search for redemption is the central drama of The Story of Gösta Berling, set in the farmland of nineteenth century Sweden. After the loss of his pulpit Gösta becomes a ne'er-do-well—chivalric, attractive, given to drink and dancing—whose every adventure is circumscribed by women. Openly pitied, secretly loved, he encounters a proud and courageous heiress, a famous beauty, a love-sick devotee, and a countess who has borne an illegitimate child—each of whom proffers him chances to prove his moral nature. Selma Lagerlöf has exerted great formative power in Scandinavian letters, with particular influence on Hamsun and Lagerkvist. Her novel reveals an Andersenlike stylistic lightnezz, warmth, and prediliction for supernatural events, which have caused critics to hail it as the foremost example of Swedish regional writing. Miss Lagerlöf was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature.
