Project Gutenberg 2025-05-20 Public domain in the USA. 113 Lagerlöf, Selma 1858 1940 Lagerlof, Selma Lagerlöf, Selma Ottiliana Lovisa Lagerloef, Selma Meijboom, Margaretha 1856 1927 Mårbacka $aAmsterdam :$bH. J. W. Becht, $c1923. Appears to be a translation of selected chapters from recollections of the author's youth. Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net/ for Project Gutenberg Mårbacka by Selma Lagerlöf is a memoir written in the early 20th century. It offers affectionate, clear-eyed recollections of childhood on a Swedish estate, blending domestic life with local lore and community history. The focus is the young Selma, her stern but devoted nurse Back-Kajsa, her parents (notably her lively father, a lieutenant), her grandmother, and her siblings, with scenes of illness, travel, and village ties shaping a warm portrait of place and people. The opening of Mårbacka sketches vivid episodes: a formidable nurse, Back-Kajsa, proves dutiful but unplayful until Selma suddenly cannot walk, which draws out the woman’s deep tenderness. Selma’s siblings bridle at the attention her illness commands, a parade of doctors and folk healers fails, and a “high guest” turns out to be a newborn sister, shifting the household’s focus and discipline. The family travels via dangerous hills and a heaving steamer toward the west coast, where summer in Strömstad brings seaside freedom, local friendships, and a brush with superstition on the forbidding “grey island.” Visiting a captain’s home and then his ship, Selma sees a treasured “paradise bird” and, to everyone’s joy, unexpectedly finds she can walk again—others credit the baths, while she quietly wonders. A parting bookmark from a baker’s daughters becomes a talisman that fixes memories of the journey and the sight of home on return. The narrative then turns to an earlier family sorrow: starving landwehrmen are sheltered at Mårbacka, scarlet fever follows, two small children die, and the grandmother wrestles with guilt until her husband’s steadfast comfort restores her. Finally, the text lingers over the estate’s ancient stone buildings and an old servant due a medal, before the fragment breaks. (This is an automatically generated summary.) 20240204033641lagerlf 1923 NL Reading ease score: 78.0 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. nl Authors, Swedish -- 19th century -- Biography Lagerlöf, Selma, 1858-1940 Sweden -- Social life and customs -- 19th century PT Text Category: Biographies 307478 2025-07-30T06:47:43.565640 text/html 275186 2025-05-20T17:11:39 text/html 409944 2025-07-30T06:47:52.487543 application/epub+zip 438431 2025-07-30T06:47:46.426574 application/epub+zip 213372 2025-07-30T06:47:44.900619 application/epub+zip 612489 2025-07-30T06:47:56.284520 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 580410 2025-07-30T06:47:51.297539 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 235738 2025-07-30T06:47:42.624602 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 215944 2025-05-20T17:11:39 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 15665 2025-07-30T06:47:56.466517 application/rdf+xml 20995 2025-07-30T06:47:45.105582 image/jpeg 3336 2025-07-30T06:47:44.982617 image/jpeg 444209 2025-07-30T06:47:43.607619 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog fi.wikipedia en.wikipedia en.wikipedia sv.wikipedia