L'Empereur du Portugal

by Selma Lagerlöf, Elena Balzamo (translator)

Pour Jan de Skrolycka, humble journalier dans le Värmland, la naissance de sa fille change à jamais le cours de sa vie. Aussi rayonnante que le soleil qui lui a donné son nom, Klara Gulla, c’est certain, accomplira de grandes choses.

Lorsqu’elle est contrainte de quitter sa famille pour gagner de l’argent à la capitale, les nouvelles se font rares au village. Mais Jan en est persuadé : si sa fille n’écrit pas, c’est parce qu’elle est devenue l’impératrice du Portugal et Jan est de ce fait empereur.

Avec L’Empereur du Portugal, l’immense conteuse Selma Lagerlöf nous offre l’histoire poignante d’un homme qui, face à la cruauté et à l’indifférence du monde, refuse de perdre espoir.

Genres: Classics

256 pages, Paperback

Published May 14, 2025

About the author

Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (1858-1940) was a Swedish author. In 1909 she became the first woman to ever receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, "in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings". She later also became the first female member of the Swedish Academy.

Born in the forested countryside of Sweden she was told many of the classic Swedish fairytales, which she would later use as inspiration in her magic realist writings. Since she for some of her early years had problems with her legs (she was born with a faulty hip) she would also spend a lot of time reading books such as the Bible.

As a young woman she was a teacher in the southern parts of Sweden for ten years before her first novel Gösta Berling's Saga was published. As her writer career progressed she would keep up a correspondance with some of her former female collegues for almost her entire life.

Lagerlöf never married and was almost certainly a lesbian (she never officially stated that she was, but most later researchers believe this to be the case). For many years her constant companion was fellow writer Sophie Elkan, with whom she traveled to Italy and the Middle East. Her visit to Palestine and a colony of Christians there, would inspire her to write Jerusalem, her story of Swedish farmers converting into a evangelical Christian group and travelling to "The American Colony" in Jerusalem.

Lagerlöf was involved in both women issues as well as politics. She would among other things help the Jewish writer Nelly Sachs to come to Sweden and donated her Nobel medal to the Finnish war effort against the Soviet union.

Outside of Sweden she's perhaps most widely known for her children's book Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige (The Wonderful Adventures of Nils).

Reviews

[Moa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sjuk romance

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Emperor of Portugallia is a beautiful yet heartbreaking story about a parent's boundless love for their child — a love that is never truly returned. The novel captures the deep and often painful longing to be loved back, a feeling perhaps briefly fulfilled when the child is still young. Selma Lagerlöf masterfully portrays a tale of dreams, heartbreak, and the human need to find meaning when love is absent. It's a book that lingers in your mind long after you've finished reading.

[Lisa-Lo Harbom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Var tvungen, det var för skolan.

[Tilde Olsson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kejsaren an Portugalien - Vacker och smärtsam.

Herr Arnes penningar - Mer som en saga, lite långtråkig.

[Hanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Herr Arnes penningar - Mystisk, spännande, finurlig och läskig. Magiskt språk. Blir sugen på att läsa mer av Selmas mer övernaturliga verk.

Kejsaren av Portugallien - Läste denna första gången i gymnasiet och jag är precis lika tagen nu som jag var då. Hjärtskärande, öm och omöjlig att värja sig mot. En absolut favorit.

[Pia Berglund · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn´t like Herr Arne penningar at all. Too much of a weird story for me.

I loved the story of Kejarn av Portugallien. This is a beautiful story about a fathers unexpacted love for his daughter. I just loved it!