Cora Sandel

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Cora Sandel, née Sara Cecilie Margareta Gjorwell Fabricius (20 December 1880, Oslo — 3 April 1974, Uppsala) was a Norwegian writer who lived most of her life abroad, in France and Sweden.

She was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), but 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. 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 the 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.

Her home in Tromsø, built in 1838, now houses the Perspektivet Museum.

[edit] Works

  • Alberte og Jakob, novel ("Alberta and Jacob", 1926, tr. 1962)
  • En blå sofa, short story collection ("A Blue Sofa", 1927)
  • Alberte og friheten, novel ("Alberta and Freedom", 1931, tr. 1963)
  • Carmen og Maja, short story collection ("Carmen and Maja", 1932)
  • Mange takk, doktor, short story collection ("Many Thanks, Doctor", 1935)
  • Bare Alberte, novel ("Alberta Alone", 1939, tr. 1965)
  • Dyr jeg har kjent, short story collection ("Animals I've Known", 1945)
  • Kranes konditori, novel ("Krane's Café", 1945-1946, tr. 1968)
  • Figurer på mørk bunn, short story collection ("Figures on a dark background", 1949)
  • Translation of Colette's La Vagabonde (1952)
  • Kjøp ikke Dondi, novel ("Don't Buy Dondi", 1958, tr. 1960 as "The Leech")
  • Vårt vanskelige liv, short story collection ("Our Difficult Life", 1960)
  • Barnet som elsket veier, short story collection with artwork ("The Child Who Loved Roads", 1973)

[edit] See also

  • Essex, Ruth. Cora Sandel: Seeker of Truth. New York: Peter Lang, 1995.
  • Rees, Ellen. "A Quiet Renaissance in Cora Sandel Scholarship." Scandinavian Studies, Vol. 75, 2003
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