The Longest Years

The Longest Years is a vivid rendering of childhood memories into an autobiographical novel. The young Norwegian girl Ingvild conveys the cornucopia of original experiences: the sights, sounds, and smells; the beginnings of thought and the acute pangs of suffering; and the pure privilege of innocence. Avoiding altogether any attempt to modify or interpret the memories of Ingvild, Undset sets forth the organic sprawling verity of a child’s world and its rootedness in what Hopkins called the “dearest freshness deep down things.”