A Life Story

By Nicolaisen, Kate, Mrs.

Book Id: WPLBN0002828690
Format Type: PDF eBook:
File Size: 1.46 MB
Reproduction Date: 8/19/2013

Title:	A Life Story
Author:	Nicolaisen, Kate, Mrs.
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Non Fiction, Social Sciences, Biography
Collections:	Authors Community, Biographies
Historic Publication Date:	2013
Publisher:	DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation)

Member Page:	Jorgen Nikolajsen
Citation APA MLA Chicago Nicolaisen, Mrs, B. K. (2013). A Life Story. Retrieved from http://gutenberg.cc/

Description
What is it that makes Kate Nicolaisen's life history so interesting? One of the answers is the way she tells it. Despite often having lived a hard life, particularly during her childhood, Kate Nicolaisen has never lost her optimism. Despite being wounded deeply by her nearest and dearest, she has herself been able to heal the wounds. Kate Nicolaisen's flair for storytelling rests on a solid foundation of socio-political understanding, great humanity, and a sharp sense for detail. Her joy of storytelling is almost musical, the dimensions are psychological, the contents earthy and realistic. The book contains aspects of the history of the social conditions of the 1910s, 20s, and 30s, including the relations between parents and children. The book also deals with the psychological aspects of the relations between father and daughter, and stepmother and daughter. And it touches on the use of art as therapy and release from the traumas of childhood. Its literary aspects include the use of the autobiography as a tool for self-development and the use of the folk story to find avenues into the past.

Summary
Kate Nicolaisen was born in Scania, Sweden in 1913 and came to Denmark at the age of 18. Her upbringing was marred by poverty, emotional neglect, and humiliation. But her singing and strength of character triumphed over oppression. Kate Nicolaisen developed a supreme overview of her life, as she recorded her childhood memories. With precise recollection, she has recreated the past for today's readers, with images that are razor sharp and alive.

Excerpt
Over the "canal" was a bridge. When I sat on the bridge, I could reach the water with my feet. It felt like soft caressing when the water glided past. Here I could sit with my own thoughts . . . melancholy thoughts. I could see my own mirror image. My tattered dress, my thin fair hair, my eyes, by skinny arms - at the bottom of the stream. It all seemed to move in the rushing water. If I lay down at the bottom! Then I would feel the water caressing my entire body. Then father would come and find me. He would stand over the stream and see me like I saw my mirror image. He would become enraged! Maybe he would pick me up and start beating me. But I would no longer be able to feel the blows - his power over me would be broken!

Table of Contents
Birth, Father, Strussliden (1910-16), Klara, To Gammalstorp (1916), Life and death (1917), Mother going to hospital, Mother's coffin, The funeral, "Miss", "Miss" becomes Mrs., To Ballingslöv (1918), To Eslöv (autumn 1918), To Bjärnum (winter 1918), Clogs, Puppy love, To Duvemölla (1919), The river, Tunes, Everyday life in Duvemölla (1919-24), Domestic animals and pets, Downhill, Berries and flowers, Fish, The tailor, Uncle Persson, Potatoes (autumn 1923), At Ingrid and Jon's (1924), The surroundings, School days (1919-26), Our Lord, Father went berserk, Summer visitors, Playing, Mirror images, Hard times, Jane is born, New little sister, Salted herring and potatoes (1922), Uncle Erik, Spring 1923, The forest, The sow, The marksman, The blue suit, The Spanish flu, Tuberculosis, Canada, Father leaves, No father - no money, From Duvemölla to Lindborg's house, Summer job (1924), Making soup on a nail, Another move (autumn 1924), Gypsies, The birch grove, Income, Notice of home coming, Father returns, The America trunk, Dancing with father, Winding up, A bitter taste, Concert for two, The school, Auntie Emma, Father and Mary leaves, At Ellen and Aron's, Traffic, Old-mother and old-father, No roses without thorns, Sale, Alone in the world, Travel waverings, At Samuelson's, At the hotel, Hilma, Garibaldi, Zanicelli, The wound, Father's school plans, From the class room . . ., . . . to the kitchen, A good friend, The big turnaround, Eight kids and bedbugs, With the holy family, The purgatory, Uncle, Travel fever, Going to Denmark, Denmark, A new home, Youth, music and delight, Job search, On the job, At the Military Hospital, Svend, Palsbøll's men's clothing factory, The type of man one marries, Overwintering in Slagelse, Married - and back to Copenhagen, The occupation, In Slagelse for good, The nearness of the war, Harry is arrested, New times, The past catches up, We meet again, Father in Slagelse, Back to Canada, Father dies, Stepmother dies, Mary's fate, Reunited with Mary, Conversations about Father, Miscellaneous events, To Canada, At father's grave.