How did Sigrid Undset’s conversion to Roman Catholicism influence her later novels?

Sigrid Undset’s conversion to Roman Catholicism in 1924, and her subsequent status as a lay Dominican, significantly shaped her later literary output. After returning to contemporary themes in her writing, her faith became a central element in her novels, including Gymnadenia (1929; The Wild Orchid), Den brænnende busk (1930; The Burning Bush), Ida Elisabeth (1932), and Den trofaste hustru (1936; The Faithful Wife).1

Beyond her fiction, her religious commitment influenced her to publish essay collections focused on the lives of saints and martyrs. The most notable of these, Stages on the Road (1934), profiles various religious figures, such as the Catalan mystic Ramon Llull and the English Jesuit priest Robert Southwell. Her interest in these subjects continued even after her death, with the posthumous publication of her biography of St. Catherine of Siena in 1951.1