Selma Lagerlof was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature so I have always been curious about her work but had never given it the time it deserved. The Saga of Gosta Berling one of her most well known works is an unexpected surprise-a series of morality tales with a heavy dose of magic realism.

The reader follows Gosta Berling a defrocked Minister-he leaves due to his requiring alcohol to avoid the poverty and starkness of his position to being saved by the Majoress and becoming one of 12 Cavaliers at a wealthy country estate-Ekeby. Most of the cavaliers had been soldiers during the Napoleonic wars and provide various interludes interspersed in the narrative of Gosta’s life and loves.

Evil makes its presence known early on when the cavaliers believe that their Savior the Majoress is actually in league with the devil and gives up the soul of her 13th cavalier each year. The cavaliers sign a blood oath against the Majoress requiring her removal from Ekeby and placing them and Gosta in charge for a year.

Lagerlof interweaves tales such as Wolves snapping at the heels, sinister woodlands, sloth and avarice to guide Gosta and the cavaliers through their year of being in charge. What I liked most about the book was that her use of magic realism adds rather than detracts from the narrative giving the reader a clear picture of a complex scenario much like a fairy tale.