Tentatively named, "The Poverty of the Rich," an unknown manuscript by Norwegian Nobel Prize winning author Sigrid Undset (1882-1949) has been found at her home, Bjerkebæk, in Lillehammer. The handwritten manuscript has not yet been scrutinized by literary experts.
News of Norway, issue 6, 1997
A series of letters have also been found, mostly from friends and family, but some are penned by renowned Americans like poet Pearl S. Buck and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
Recently Bjerkebæk was purchased by the township of Lillehammer and will be turned into a museum. The date for the opening of Bjerkebæk is not yet certain, but the goal is to have Undset’s home open to the public some time next year.
The deal was signed Aug. 14, and it makes the property public from Jan. 1, 1998.
As the most recent Norwegian author to have won the Nobel Prize, Undset received this honor in 1928 for her description of life in Scandinavia during the Middle Ages. The two novels the Nobel Literary Committee in Sweden had in mind were the 3-volume Kristin Lavransdatter and the 4-volume Olav Audunsson. Both novels are set in the 13th century medieval Norway.
More information about Sigrid Undset can be found at the NOIS Web site:
www.norway.org/undset.htm