Cora Sandel was the pen name of Sara Cecilia Görvell Fabricius, a Norwegian writer and painter who lived most of her life abroad. Her most famous works are the novels now known as the Alberta Trilogy.
Sara Cecilia Görvell Fabricius was born in Kristiania (now Oslo). Her parents were Jens Schow Fabricius (1839–1910) and Anna Margareta Greger (1858–1903). When she was 12 years old, financial difficulties forced her family to move to Tromsø where her father was appointed a naval commander. She started painting under the tutelage of Harriet Backer, and while still a teenager moved to Paris, where she married the Swedish sculptor Anders Jönsson (1883–1965). In 1921 they returned to Sweden, where she won custody of her son Erik after divorcing Jönsson.
In her youth she tried, without much success, to establish herself as a painter. And it wasn't until she was 46 years old that her debut novel, Alberte and Jakob was published, the first in what became the semi-autobiographical Alberta trilogy. Sandel used many elements from her own life and experiences in her stories, which often centre on the spiritual struggles of inarticulate and isolated women. The Alberta trilogy traced the emotional development of a lethargic and unhappy girl into a self-sufficient woman. These novels earned her an immediate place in the Scandinavian canon, but it was not until the 1960s that Sandel, now living as a recluse in Sweden, was discovered by the English-speaking world.
Despite her great literary success, she remained hidden behind her pseudonym and lived a rather secluded life. She was decorated with the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1957. Her home in Tromsø, built in 1838, now houses the Perspektivet Museum.
Det er ingen som beskriver det innestengte kvinnefellesskapets tvang i norsk litteratur som Cora Sandel. Frihetslengselen og det etterlengtede kunstnerlivet dissekeres og føles på alvor. Usikkeheten, tvilen, fortvilelsen og valgene som tas. De såre realitetene og den store styrken på tross av alt. For ikke å snakke om det fantastiske språket. Jeg bruker det for å kalibrere mitt eget når det trengs.
Svår att betygsätta. Det är ingen lustfylld läsning. Däremot finns det utsökta betraktelser och igenkänningsfaktor. Boken (böckerna) har inte mycket till dramaturgi vilket gör den svårläst, men det känns samtidigt som berättelsen om Alberte inte kunde ha varit skriven på ett annat sätt. Såhär ser ju hennes liv ut.
Citat: "Nu gäller det att gömma undan allt inom en själv som inte är han och klamra sig till det hos honom som man tycker om. Liesels ord, det är kanske lite en slump vem det blir, men vi vill ju gärna tycka om den det nu en gång har blivit, kommer gång på gång för Alberte."
En klassiker kan jeg forstå at den er, men det at den er skrevet i mellomkrigstiden gjør den noe tung å lese. Likevel en fin bok som jeg er takknemlig for å ha lest. Spennende å kunne få et innblikk i hvordan ting var for en kvinne i årene før andre verdenskrig brede seg over Norge (og verden).
Skulle gjerne hatt forklaringene av ord underveis som fotnote og ikke tilslutt.
Jeg leste denne bokserien til en skoleoppgave og jeg ble så forelska i Cora Sandels måte å skrive på. Bøkene handler mye om hvordan det er å være kvinne på tidlig 1900-tallet og som ei jente føles dette som en veldig viktig bokserie å lese. Anbefales!
I read this in Swedish translation and the prose was magnificent! Quiet, lyrical and accurately atmospheric. Brittany and northern Norway and Paris are well drawn.
Recommendation from a friend. Certain qualities in the main character Alberte made me dislike her. She irritated me for never taking any action to change her life. Unable to express feelings, acting indiffirent. Alberte portrayed someone I one day thought I wanted to be, but now I see why I don't. Life as an artist is too lonely. Sorry L.
At times I found the book dull. There were too little action, no exitement, just hard feelings.
What I liked was the way it is written, the author paints surroundings and persons beautifully.