Return to the Future

work by Undset

Also known as: “Tillbake til fremtiden”

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July 19, 2026

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Return to the Future is a work by Norwegian novelist Sigrid Undset, published in English in 1942. It recounts her experiences fleeing Nazi-occupied Norway during World War II.1

Undset, a Nobel Prize laureate, is renowned for her historical trilogy Kristin Lavransdatter, set in medieval Norway. Her writing often draws from Norwegian folklore and history, as well as her own life. While her early novels focused on contemporary women's lives, she later turned to historical fiction, exploring themes of sin, morality, and redemption. During World War II, Undset lived in exile in the United States, writing and advocating for her homeland.12

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Sigrid Undset
Childhood
…published originally in English as Return to the Future (1942; Norwegian Tillbake til fremtiden). Her mother, Charlotte Undset (née Gyth), was Danish, and both of her parents were atheists. However, Undset and her two younger sisters were raised Lutheran in accordance with Norwegian expectations at the time. (Lutheranism was Norway’s…
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…published originally in English as Return to the Future (1942; Norwegian Tillbake til fremtiden). Her mother, Charlotte Undset (née Gyth), was Danish, and both of her parents were atheists. However, Undset and her two younger sisters were raised Lutheran in accordance with Norwegian expectations at the time. (Lutheranism was Norway’s…
Read More