If you’ll forgive the analogy, as the middle volume of a three-volume series, The Wife is a little like The Empire Strikes Back, in the sense that it seems to serve mainly as a vehicle to move the characters forward while setting things up for the final conflict. Will that final conflict come in the third volume, The Cross? We’ll have to wait and see.
Other than that, my main disappointment with The Wife is that it wasn’t as much about the wife, Kristin Lavransdatter, as I would have liked, and seemed to focus more on her husband, Erlend Nikulausson. Thematically, it reaffirmed again and again the need for women to remain pure…
“Dear sister -- all other love is merely a reflection of the heavens in the puddles of a muddy road. You will become sullied too if you allow yourself to sink into it. But if you always remember that it’s a reflection of the light from that other home, then you will rejoice at its beauty and take good care that you do not destroy it by churning up the mire at the bottom.”
And…
“I was thinking about … women. I wonder whether any woman respects the laws and beliefs of men as we do among ourselves -- when she or her own kind can win something by stepping over them.”
And…
Erlend threw back his head, his eyes blazing and fierce. “There is a law, Tore, that cannot be subverted by sovereigns or tings, which says that a man must protect the honor of his women with the sword.”
…but in that regard, it isn’t Kristin but her husband Erlend who is tested throughout the novel. Indeed, in the climax, Erlend nearly loses his life as a result of his sins of adultery and ambition. In fact, I think it would have been a far better novel if Erlend had lost his life. It would have at least given its title, The Wife, a little more relevance and meaning.
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This post appeared on Eric Lanke's blog, an association executive and author. You can contact him at eric.lanke@gmail.com.
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