Return to the Future: An Escape to Freedom

by Sigrid Undset

This is the passionate journal of the author’s perilous flight from Norway to Sweden, across Russia to Japan, and finally of the United States during World War II.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Travel, Biography, World War II

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1942

About the author

Sigrid Undset was a Norwegian novelist whose powerful, psychologically rich works made her one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century. Best known for her medieval sagas Kristin Lavransdatter and The Master of Hestviken, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1928 for her vivid portrayals of life in the Middle Ages, written with remarkable historical detail and emotional depth.

Born in Denmark to Norwegian parents, Undset spent most of her life in Norway. After her father's early death, she had to forgo formal education and worked as a secretary while writing in her spare time. Her debut novel Fru Marta Oulie (1907) shocked readers with its opening confession of adultery and established her bold, realist style. In early works like ,i>Jenny (1911), she explored modern women's struggles with love, freedom, and morality, often critiquing romantic idealism and social expectations.

Though she gained recognition for her contemporary novels, Undset felt increasingly drawn to historical fiction. This shift led to her masterwork Kristin Lavransdatter, a trilogy published from 1920 to 1922, which follows the life of a woman in 14th-century Norway as she navigates love, faith, motherhood, and spiritual growth. With its intricate character development and deep moral themes, the trilogy brought her international acclaim and remains a cornerstone of Scandinavian literature.

In 1924, Undset converted to Roman Catholicism, a profound personal decision that shaped her later writing. Her tetralogy,i>The Master of Hestviken (1925–1927) centers on a man burdened by unconfessed guilt, offering a deeply spiritual and psychological portrait of sin and redemption. Her Catholic faith and concern with ethical questions became central to her work and public life.

A vocal critic of both communism and fascism, Undset fled Norway after the Nazi invasion in 1940. Her books were banned by the occupying regime, and she lived in exile in the United States during the war, advocating for Norway and the Allied cause. The loss of her son in the war deeply affected her, and although she returned home after the war, she published little in her final years.

Undset’s legacy rests not only on her historical novels but also on her fearless exploration of conscience, duty, and the human condition. Her characters—especially her women—are fully realized, flawed, and emotionally complex. Her writing combines psychological insight with stylistic clarity and spiritual depth, making her work enduringly relevant and widely read.

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was included in a sort of "grab-bag" that I bought at a church event. It is the best of the bunch, and I could have easily given it 4 or 5 stars for being worthwhile, if that were the standard. The author is a Nobel prize for literature winner for previous books, obviously an intelligent and insightful individual. She writes of her flight from Norway, as the brave but unprepared Norwegian Army is being overrun by the Nazis. Her description of her train trip across Russia, the bleakness of its people and cities and its lack of the most basic hygiene or nutrition at the time, is unvarnished. When she reaches Japan, she wonders whether her more positive reaction to the Japanese people, even though she knows they are aggressors in a brutal war, is because they are so much cleaner and more pleasant, standards that are important to her Norwegian people. The last portion of the book is devoted to a summary of her strong political and sociological beliefs, and she expresses most strongly her negative feelings for the German people, attributing much of the responsibility for their history to innate traits. I imagine she would be surprised and pleased at Germany's place in the world today. It was very interesting to read her view of things from a time when she had no idea how the war would end.

[Bettie]

Why did I waste so much time on her Catholic trilogy *iYawn* when this would have been oh so much more to my liking. Fully recommended by Paul Watkins in Fellowship of Ghosts: A Journey Through the Mountains of Norway

blurb - This is the passionate journal of the author’s perilous flight from Norway to Sweden, across Russia to Japan, and finally of the United States during World War II. She left Norway as an active participant in the underground resistance movement, anxious to tell the story of the brutal invasion of Norway by Nazi Germany.

Softcover, 250 pps.

[Art · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look at the War in the Scandinavia Countries.
This Lady travelled thru Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Russia, Japan before major fallout of These countries w/Nazi Germany.
Frank look at Germans and great distaste for their way of life.
Good Look at Norway and the mentality of the people as the war has came to their front door.
Russians and Communism are looked at very critically.

[Lars Holmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pinte meg gjennom de siste sidene for å kunne dra vitsen om at filmen er bedre

[Brent Woo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bizarre memoir. Most of the book is a memoir of Undset's flight from Norway to the United States in World War II. Typical cooperation with the local people and encounters with new cultures, although it's interesting to see early 20th c. perspectives on other nations ("the Russians seemed more homogeneous. In the cities nearly all the men were beardless, but unshaven... The large, straight, projecting nose most of the women had , and short, broad, strong-boned faces." 97)

The final chapter is the most interesting: a sudden break from the narration into a no-holds-barred racist invective against Germans. Slightly understandable, given the Nazis occupied her home country of Norway and forced her to flee, across freakin Russia and JAPAN to the United States. But almost all of it is cartoonish hyperbole that evokes almost no sympathy from this reader:

'Nazi Germany's peculiarities are not anything new. Quite the opposite: they have been traits in the psychology of the German people since time immemorial' 'the genuine, backward German people' 'psychopaths' 'thought-movements which are essentially the products of German minds ... both schizophrenic and maniac-depressive traits' '[Martin] Luther was a psychopath.'

There's not much here beside the unique historical perspective Undset provides.

[Maryka Biaggio · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although interesting as a travelogue and report on the Nazi invasion of Norway, this book suffers from the fairly narrow and nationalistic perspective of its author.

[Julius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich habe die deutsche Version gelesen, die allerdings hier auf der Plattform nicht vorhanden war.

Das Buch ist eine Erzählung der Autorin über ihre Erlebnisse auf der Flucht vor den Nazis aus Norwegen, die sie über Schweden, Russland und Japan in die USA führte. Sie hat wohl eine umfassende humanistische Bildung genossen (Geschichte, Kunstgeschichte, Sprachen) und eine ausgeprägte politische Meinung, was auch der Grund ist, weswegen sie flüchten musste. Obwohl sie schon vorher weit gereist ist, lässt sich ihre Meinung insoweit zusammenfassen, dass kein Land so schön ist wie Norwegen und dass keine Staatsform besser ist als die Demokratie.
Das Buch ist teils Biographie, teils Streitschrift. Immer wenn es ihr um die Warnung vor Absolutismus und Faschismus geht, wird es mitreissend. Die Beobachtungen auf der Reise sind häufig eher platt.

Die letzten 50 Seiten des Buches verbringt die Autorin damit "die Deutschen" zu charakterisieren, wobei sie kein gutes Haar an ihnen lässt. Beispiele:
- S. 182: "Recht, das war zum Beispiel für uns Menschen in Norwegen eine Norm für unser Verhalten anderen Menschen gegenüber, eine Norm, zu deren Entstehung wir selbst beigetragen hatten - für die Deutschen bedeutete Recht die Regeln und Gebote, denen sie unter der Aufsicht von Gericht und Polizei gehorchen mussten."
- S. 200: "Kein einzelner Griff in dem genialen Spiel auf den tiefsten Saiten der deutschen Volkspsyche, das Adolf Hitler vorgeführt hat, ist genialer als gerade dieser - dass er verlangt hat, wie ein göttliches Wesen verehrt zu werden. Damit kam er einer uralten deutschen Forderung entgegen - einer Forderung, die bereits in der deutschen Mittelalterdichtung über der Nibelungen Not das Leitmotiv darstellt, dem Trieb zur bedingungslosen Unterwerfung unter einen Herrn. Dieses Ideal des treuen Dieners hätte etwas Schönes an sich haben können, wenn es nicht eine Kehrseite besässe [...]: Die Treue einem Herrn und Führer gegenüber rechtfertigt jegliches Verbrechen, jeden Verrat, den der eingeschworene Diener gegen alle anderen begeht, wenn er nur glauben oder sich einreden kann, dass er sich selbst ehrlos macht. [Es] hat noch den Zusatz, der s in den Augen der meisten nicht-deutschen Menschen noch abstossender macht. Dem Bedürfnis, den Fuss eines Herrn im Nacken zu spüren, entspricht der Wunsch, jemanden unter sich zu haben, auf dem man selbst herumtrampeln kann."
- S. 219: "Es hat keinen Zweck, weiter zu glauben, es gebe keinen fundamentalen Unterschied zwischen der deutschen Volksmentalität und denen der anderen europäischen Nationen, dass zwischen unserer mangelnden Fähigkeit, die Deutschen und ihrer mangelnden Fähigkeit, alle anderen Menschen zu verstehen, nur ein gradueller Unterschied besteht [...]."
- Ansonsten noch allerhand Wörter wie Hass, Psychopathen, Rattenfänger von Hameln, Herdenmentalität, rächen oder "Der uralte und felsenfeste Deutschglaube, dass Rücksichtslosigkeit, ausgefeilte Grausamkeit und Terror patente Mittel seien, um alle Siege und Güter zu erringen" (S. 224)

[Margie Dorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started out really liking this book, a personal account by Nobel award-winning Undset of her escape from Norway during the beginnings of World War II. But I really had a terrible time reading the last section.
First of all, as an example of Undset in positive mode, she had stopped in Japan on her way to the United States--she could do that because the U.S. and Japan were not yet at war. She remarks on her love of Japan and Japanese culture and people in contrast to where she had just been in the Soviet Union (she also drew individual characterizations of Russian people favorably). Regarding the Japanese people and the current war they were undertaking in China and Southeast Asia, she was sure that the warmongering was only from the top and that the Japanese people, with their beautiful culture, were not likely to be a violent people. "We smile and smile but our hearts weep," was the beautiful quotation she took away from that country. She excuses them further by saying, "it has always taken long to break a people's will for war if it believes its existence is threatened." However, in her last section, she starts in on the Germans. And here she lumps them all into one category rather than separating the war-mongers from the peace-makers. She claims that the Germans have been overly-emotional and war-mongering since the earliest days of their existence (glossing over the violence of early Norwegian Vikings). She barely alludes to a few unnamed Germans who may have resisted Hitler, but that is such a brief reference one needs a magnifying glass to see it. She castigates German theologians and religion (Luther was a psychopath, according to her), but the characteristics of the Hitler regime, she says, have been present with Germans "since time immemorial."
She may be excused somewhat due to her recent personal experience with the ravages of war, including the loss of a son. But she does not seem to be able to put herself into the shoes of all the people who were affected by the war--the Chinese and others in Southeast Asia that the Japanese were ravaging.
I guess what I take away from me is the appreciation of the first four sections of the book, and a warning to self about easy generalizations.

[Judy Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found in the stacks at Miller Creek's clubhouse library.
A surprise -

Sigrid Undset - winner of the `928 Nobel Prize for Literature.

"The passionate journal of Unset's courageous flight to freedom during World War II."
In 1940, Norway was rippped apart by the enormous and brutal invasion of Nazi Germany. The peace-loving Norwegian citizens were unprepared and finally to the United States.mentally and militarily for the relentless assault which devasted their country and their souls."

This is her "personal account of her perilous flight from Norway to Sweden, across Russia to Japan, and finally to the United States. Her story of pain and courage depicts the sights, sounds and human frailties of life, her passion for freedom, and her vision for an unknown future."

A memorable quote from the book:

"...can it surprise anyone that we hate with full and passionate hearts the strangers who now destroy with lawlessness, the country which we have built up with law through thousands of years?"

Reminded me somewhat of the Zookeeper's Wife.

I did not know about this part of history.
This was an eye-opener to what the Scandinavian countries experienced during the war, with unsettling similarities to our current mindset in the US.

Translated from Norwegian.
First printed in 1942.

[Inger-Johanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I utgangspunktet er jeg skeptisk til Undset etter at jeg leste Kristin Lavransdatter som pensum og holdt på å få mark. Jeg syntes at Kristin var så dum at jeg ble sjeleglad da hun endelig åndet ut, nokså likt hvor irritert jeg ble over familien Buendía i Gabriel García Márquez' Hundre års ensomhet. Så prøvde jeg å lese Kristin Lavransdatter igjen for et par år siden for å se om jeg så ting i et annet lys når det er gått litt tid, men ga opp ganske raskt, det bød meg fortsatt mot.
Jeg tenkte derfor at det kunne være interessant å lese noe helt annet av Sigrid Undset, da jeg snublet over denne boken som jeg ikke hadde hørt om. Jeg visste at hun var dratt til USA under krigen og fikk lite anerkjennelse i Norge etterpå, men kjente ikke til så mange detaljer.
Selv om mange av Undsets betraktninger i boken blir nesten parodisk farget av hennes fordommer var det likevel spennende lesning. Etterordet av Morten Strøksnes gjorde min leseropplevelse enda mer givende fordi han både besvarte mange av de spørsmålene jeg hadde stilt meg selv underveis og bekreftet en del av mine reaksjoner og inntrykk. Det er snodig å lese om folks tidsnære vurderinger nå når vi har fått perioden på avstand.

[Marta sans-H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascynujące świadectwo napisane przez osobę uważną, prawą katoliczkę z protestanckiego kraju, a także koleżankę po wojennym fachu Astrid Lindgren – cenzorkę listów (też bym podczytała, może w bardziej sprzyjających okolicznościach). Pocztówka z Rosji najbarwniejsza i trzymająca w napięciu, bardzo pożywna strawa reporterska, chyba wciąż oddająca żywego ducha narodu – znaczące „ekhm”. Japonia podobnie ciekawie uchwycona, ale już Sigridowa ewaluacja innych krajów Europy/graczy wojennych (Niemcy obłąkani, Anglia czysta duchem, we Francji i we Włoszech antysemityzm znikomy – zniesmaczone emoji słowem) za daleko posunięta i nietrafiona. Niemniej warto „Odzyskać przyszłość”, podróżując z Undset w przeszłość (🥴).

[Michaiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed most of this book - reading about Undset’s escape from German occupied Norway through Sweden, Russia, and Japan to finally arrive in the United States was fascinating. Her descriptions of people, nature, and geography almost make you feel like you were right there with her. However, in the last section she totally goes off the rails - it is a complete tirade against the entirety of German people from time immemorial. Partly understandable given the context of her writing, but I was done when she said Martin Luther was a psychopath along with the rest of the German Reformers, “in so far as they were not syphilitics in far advanced stages of the disease.” I know she was a Roman Catholic - I have even read and enjoyed her very RC realist novels - but come on.

[Jwt Jan50 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read Kristen Lavransdatter and The Master of Hestviken in the fall of 1972. Absolutely captivated. Recently reread book one of Kristen Lavransdatter and still enchanted by the tale. Introduced to Njals Saga by my undergraduate Civ I prof and periodically return to the genre. Return to the Future deals with the German invasion of Norway during WW2, and her escape to Sweden, Finland, USSR, Japan and finally the USA. Her description of the USSR and Japan give a telling account of life in those two less than representative societies. For those unfamiliar with Undset, she was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

[Hedgehog · Rating 5 out of 5]

This starts as a tale of escaping within and then from Norway in 1940. It ends as an essay regarding the causes of Germany's fall into war and totalitarianism. Some of the claims seem nonsensical now, but many of them are prescient. Although writing in 1942, she pretty much predicts the Marshall Plan, for instance. Although a lot of the writing is incendiary, it's coherent and thoughtful.

She writes extensively about Russia and Japan and the trip there on the Trans-Siberian Express. That's an epic journey!

[Dorthe Svendsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kanskje en av de bedre Undset-bøkene. Den er ganske tredelt, og endrer seg ganske kraftig mellom delene. Særlig likte jeg den vakre reiseskildringen på midten. Det var fint å få dette blikket på hennes liv og tanker rundt krigsårene. For ei flott kampdame altså. Vil anbefale denne boka. Kan virkelig være med på å la deg forstå hvorfor hun vant nobelprisen.

Det har vært veldig fint å følge hennes forfatterskap gjennom denne leseutforfringen til @deichmantorshov om å lese #200årpå12bøker. Men nå er vi kommet til 1940-1949, og da må jeg nok finne noe annet å lese videre i leseutfordringen.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much enjoyed the first 3/4 of the book, which detail
Undset’s experiences during her flight from
Norway during WWII. The last part of the book is an understandably harsh criticism of the German people, though perhaps we are fortunate that her estimation of the Germans as a people has proved not entirely accurate. It is still a worthwhile read that gives insight into the mindset that must not have been totally unique to the author in reaction to the events of surrounding the rise of Hitler, totalitarianism, and worldwide war.

[Mimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this partly because I have been watching the pbs series, Atlantic Crossing, also about escaping nazi invasion of Norway in 1940, and because as a girl I loved The Kristin Lavrensdattar trilogy. But Undset has to travel east to NY, including across Siberia by train. This is the part I enjoyed in this book, she describes the extremely poor and unsanitary conditions over 20 years after the revolution, the descriptions are excellent. 3.4

[Karen Mullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was quite fascinated by the historical accounts of Undset, as Norway was invaded by the Germans, but toward the end, I felt like she ended it rather abruptly. So I felt like she had only shared about 2/3 of the journey, as she fled through Sweden, Russia, and Japan. The observations in all those countries were most interesting.

[Fredrik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeg må si at det var reiseskildringen som lokket meg til denne boken - og det var den delen jeg definitivt likte best. Essayet som utgjorde den siste firedelen, skummet jeg ganske raskt gjennom. Det samme med deler av teksten til Strøksnes.
Men fortellingen om flukten fra Norge og den lange «bakveien» til USA leste jeg altså med stor interesse.

[Ida · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interessant og tankevekkende. Undset er direkte og til tider ganske nådeløs i sine observasjoner og konklusjoner. Samtidig er hun reflekterende og det er tydelig at det hun kommer med er gjennomtenkt. Hun skildrer Tysklands invasjon av Norge, sønnen og sin egen flukt via Nord-Norge, Sverige, Russland og Japan, før de ender opp i USA. Velskrevet og interessant etterord av Morten Strøksnes.

[L Eidsness · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting travelogue, glad to read a historical note from Norway. Nationalism is the life-or-death language of the time and affects the last chapter especially negatively, as I was warned.

[Vegard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinerande og svært god bok

[Joanna Leliwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 gwiazdki

[Tom Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sigrid's life experiences are as fascinating as her Kristin and Olav sagas. The first 200 pages tell of her escape from Norway following the Nazi invasion (about which I had scant prior knowledge) - her telling of the events is well worth the read - her trip through Russia was beyond gritty - SU's writing can really bite when she wants it to - the last 50 pages offer much insight into Sigrid's personal beliefs and thinking - one thing for sure, she does not care for the Germans (and who can blame her) - Martin Luther was German which no doubt prejudiced her feelings towards Norway's Lutheran Church (syphilitic? - ouch) - in other words her negative attitude towards Germany went back well before Hitler's rise - this book is well worth tracking down and reading - I managed to find a VG 1942 copy with DJ on eBay

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An honest and I believe accurate accounting of her travels thru Norway,Sweden, Russia and Japan on her way to the the US in 1940 Her travel could only be entirely westward hence the fourteen days in Russia section across the entire continent.There is terrific insight into all the people she meets especially so in Stalinist Russia.Possibly one of only a few accounts because written diaries of others were confiscated at the border.Undset was at risk because of her anti Nazi work and as such she may be forgiven her prejudices of pro-Japan and anti-German.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating story by a very intelligent and thoughtful writer; written about her journey to safety from Nazi occupied Norway so Communist Russia and newly militaristic Japan are addressed at great length. Her ability to weave discussions on everything from freedom and democracy to hygiene are both fascinating and an invitation to further thought
Thomas F. Bertonneau has a great review in the Brussels Journal online if you are interested in more

[Wesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating story of a woman making her way out of Norway through Russia to escape the Nazis. She has a very frank, clear writing style that I really appreciated.

[Diane Mast · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting perspective from a writer who experienced the German invasion of Norway during WWII.