I found the ending a little strange, circling back as it does to Kristin being an object of admiration… but it did accomplish what felt like the right tone. Kristin experiences a few reunions, towards the end, but the mood of the story continues to withdraw, becoming introspective, turning away from the world. As her world narrows, she’s relegated to the place of an old lady whose values (she’s told) are out of touch she ends up retreating to a smaller world and focuses on her relationship with God. Having done battle with Erlend until the very end, she is left with a sense of remorse that she didn’t appreciate him more, that she focused on the faults. Her family grows smaller, between the loss of her children (eventually eight) to death, marriage, and travel, and the deaths of many of her loved ones as she ages.

Her children grow up her circumstances change significantly.

In this final installment of Kristin’s life, I felt that she changes more than she did in the first two books. I’m going to try to keep this one spoiler-free, though, which also keeps it brief. It felt difficult to discuss the plot, the action, even the development of the characters – let alone my reactions, without taking that route.

In my reviews of the first two books of Kristin Lavransdatter, I went heavy on the spoilers. 🙂 Here is book three book one was reviewed here and book two here. As my single volume runs nearly 1200 pages, I thought you might permit me three book reviews. Kristin Lavransdatter is a trilogy, comprised of The Wreath, The Wife, and The Cross.

The cross sigrid undset