Magnhild Haalke (12 August 1885 – 18 October 1984) was a Norwegian novelist.[1]
Biography
Magnhild Camilla Kvaale was born in Vikna Municipality, an island municipality off the Namdalen coast in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. She was the second of ten children born to Knut Kvaale (1852–1942) and Kaja Augusta Wiig (1863–1948). She worked as a teacher for 30 years, first in Trøndelag, and later in Sør-Odal Municipality in Hedmark.[2]
She made her literary debut in 1935 with the novel Allis sønn. Her deep psychological insight and great environmental descriptions ensured her a lasting place in Norwegian literature. Eventually she wrote nearly 30 books. Haalke made use of strong, colorful language and lush figures of speech. Her novels often focused on adult insensitive treatment of defenseless youth. The role of the mother in childhood development was a frequent subject. In several books she wrote of values relating to childhood environment and family traditions.[2]
Her trilogy Åkfestet (1936), Dagblinket (1937) and Rød haust? (1941) describes the fate of a woman growing up on a small farm. The trilogy was later reworked into two books Grys saga (1950). The trilogy Karenanna Velde (1946), Kaja Augusta (1947) and Kvinneverden (1954) is from a rural district on the coast of Trøndelag. Her final work was her autobiography Mot nytt liv, written at the age of ninety-two.
In 1922, she married her second cousin, artist Hjalmar Kristian Haalke (1894–1964). She died during 1984 and was buried in the cemetery at Nordstrand Church (Nordstrand kirkegård) in Oslo.[5]
Selected works
Allis sønn, 1935
Åkfestet, 1936
Dagblinket, 1937
Trine Torgersen, 1940
Rød haust?, 1941
Kan vi bygge en bedre menneskeslekt?, 1946 (lecture)
