The Collected Works of Selma Lagerlöf

Selma Lagerlöf was a Swedish author and teacher. She was the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Through her studies in Stockholm, Lagerlöf reacted against the realism of contemporary Swedish-language writers such as August Strindberg. She began her first novel, Gösta Berling's Saga, while working as a teacher in Landskrona in 1887. A visit in 1900 to the American Colony in Jerusalem became the inspiration for Lagerlöf's book by that name. The royal family and the Swedish Academy gave her substantial financial support to continue her passion. Jerusalem was also acclaimed by critics, who began comparing her to Homer and Shakespeare, so that she became a popular figure both in Sweden and abroad. By 1895, she gave up her teaching to devote herself to her writing. In 1902, Lagerlöf was asked by the National Teacher's Association to write a geography book for children. She wrote The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, a novel about a boy from the southernmost part of Sweden, who had been shrunk to the size of a thumb and who travelled on the back of a goose across the country. Lagerlöf mixed historical and geographical facts about the provinces of Sweden with the tale of the boy's adventures until he managed to return home and was restored to his normal size. The novel is one of Lagerlöf's most well-known books, and it has been translated into more than 30 languages. This edition includes: The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Christ Legends Charlotte Löwensköld The Emperor of Portugallia Invisible Links The Girl from the Marsh Croft The Treasure Jerusalem The Miracles of Antichrist Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness The Story of Gösta Berling