Sigrid Undset received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928. She was the third woman to be so honored. Kristin Lavransdatter and The Master of Hestviken, her highly erotic, meticulously researched depictions of life in medieval Norway have been translated into almost every language.
Undset probed the seemingly irreconcilable multiple roles demanded of women as individuals, wives, and mothers, and she was fervently outspoken about their need for sexual fulfillment. Her great artistry, psychological insight, and compassion for human fallibility enabled her to treat ordinary people with a...