03099cam a22003493u 4500 76129 UtSlPG 20260610134748.0 m cr n 260607r20251923utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d UtSlPG nl iso639-1 PT Lagerlöf, Selma, 1858-1940 Mårbacka Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg, 2025 1 online resource : multiple file formats text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Appears to be a translation of selected chapters from recollections of the author's youth. Release date is 2025-05-20 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.) Originally published: Amsterdam: H. J. W. Becht, 1923 Authors, Swedish -- 19th century -- Biography Lagerlöf, Selma, 1858-1940 Sweden -- Social life and customs -- 19th century Meijboom, Margaretha, 1856-1927 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76129 116854 116854