Ellen Brown

In this serial work of religious historical fiction, Magda, a "fallen woman" from Berlin turned maidservant in the house of Soren Kierkegaard, seeks the full life that has thus far eluded her. Two journals set in the summer of 1847 record Magda's responses to the Luther Bible, Goethe's Faust, and her elusive yet compelling master, who is simultaneously crafting his Works of Love. Three journals set in the fall, winter, and "people's spring" of 1847 and 1848 reflect Magda's ongoing engagement with secular and sacred writings, her sporadic yet intimate interactions with her master, the precariousness of her position in his household, and the rapidly changing social landscape, at the same time as Kierkegaard begins, revises, or completes several of his most existential and prophetic works. A sixth journal set in the summer of 1848 reveals Magda's final disposition. Is she judged, or is she saved?

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