Constance Ring

Initially refused by the author's scandalized publisher, Constance Ring is now considered a classic of Scandinavian and women's literature, a passionate condemnation of marriage and moral hypocrisy that has drawn comparisons to Madame Bovary and The Awakening.

Constance is a naive young woman who marries Ring, a well-to-do businessman who loves her but indulges in the casual adultery that is customary for men of his social circle. When Constance sets out to divorce Ring, she finds that no one will support her decision, but she refuses to yield to the forces of a society that offers women few choices other than marriage.

"Need an antidote to the summer trash you were so excited about just a month ago? Meet Constance Ring, a turn-of-the-century Norwegian heroine who has been brought to modern America in superb form by the translators Judith Messick and Katherine Hanson. . . . [H]er struggle is as moving today . . . as it must have been when the novel was first published in 1885." --New York Times Book Review

"[A] rich, full-sided portrait, and this graceful translation will help insure a place for Constance Ring in the canon of feminist literature." --Seattle Gay News

"Constance Ring is an eloquent attack on the institutions that divide men and women into hostile camps. . . . English-speaking readers are lucky that this memorable character is no longer lost to us." --San Francisco Chronicle