I have just finished the second half of The Bridal Wreath, and I am pleasantly surprised. I assumed there would be extreme dramatics, but I am relieved to hear that a lot of the conflict in this part is resolved by communication. Not to mention that Lavrans has once again come on top as the best fictional father of the year! The characters have also grown, especially Kristin. She’s still headstrong and stubborn, but she has become in tune with her emotions, which makes me happy to hear. Though I am not too sure Erlend is her perfect match, he does respect her and they seem to have good chemistry. Simon is also a good character and man, but I would have hated to see them together. She doesn’t even want to hold his hand when he meets her again in the convent, let alone let him touch her. She has also grown independent, at least for this era, and it was interesting to see her interact with everyone. She’s a strong character, and unfortunately, being close to minor characters is harder. Sigrid writes that she has good friends or aquaintences like Ingebjorg and Helga, but I disagree. These are shallow friendships built on jealousy so I wouldn’t consider them close. If anything, Kristin’s friendship with the monk is the only pure and truest friendship I’ve seen when reading this half.
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