Novel
An Everyday Story
En Hverdags-Historie
Opening lines
For nogle Aar ſiden reiſte jeg i et offentligt Ærinde i Udlandet, og paa Hjemveien erholdt jeg Tilladelſe til at opholde mig en Tidlang i det Mecklenborgſke, for et privat, mig vigtigt Anliggendes Skyld.
Some years ago I travelled abroad on official business, and on the way home I obtained leave to stay for a time in Mecklenburg, for the sake of a private matter of importance to me.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from archive.org
Synopsis
A young man tells for himself how he became engaged too quickly, drawn to a girl who shone in society and was ceaselessly busy with her household, but had no real education. Committed to her, he gradually discovers her sister, a discreet and sensitive woman of deeper culture, and finds himself caught between the two. The narrative, which follows the life of Copenhagen families closely, discusses in passing the relations between the sexes and the education of young girls.
Context
The narrative appeared in 1828 in Kjøbenhavns flyvende Post, the paper run by the author's son, a year after the fictional letters with which she had made her debut. It came out unsigned, and its success was such that the formula “by the author of An Everyday Story” served as a signature for everything she published afterwards. Anonymity was lifted officially only by a literary will attached to the 1866-1867 edition. Reissued in book form in 1833, the text had appeared in German as early as 1831. Kierkegaard, who knew who was behind the formula, devoted a whole book in 1846 to another of her stories.
Who it is for
A short prose narrative, first published as a serial; complete English translation in 2019, none in French for this narrative.
Prizes and reception
The most famous of her tales, whose title served as a signature for her whole body of work; it made the domestic life of Copenhagen a subject for the novel.
Sources for this page 10
The pages consulted to check this page.