Ditte: girl alive /
by Martin Anderson Nexö ; translated from the Danish [by Asta and Rowland Kenny].
- New York, NY : Henry Holt and Company, 1920.
- 333 pages ; 20 cm.
This book is followed by two sequels, Ditte: Daughter of Man, and Ditte: Towards the Stars.
Part I: I. Ditte's family tree -- II. Before the birth -- III. A child is born -- VI. Ditte's first step -- V. Grandfather strikes out afresh -- VI. The death of Soren man -- VII. The widow and the fatherless -- VIII. Wise Maren -- IX. Ditte visits fairyland -- X. Ditte gets a father -- XI. The new father -- XII. The rag and bone man -- XIII. Ditte has a vision -- XIV. At home with mother -- XV. Rain and sunshine -- XVI. Poor granny -- XVII. When the cat's away -- XVIII. The raven flies by night -- XIX. Ill luck follows the raven's call -- Part II: I. Morning at the crow's nest -- II. The highroad -- III. Lars Peter seeks the king -- IV. Little mother Ditte -- V. The little vagabond -- VI. The knife-grinder -- VII. The sausage-maker -- VIII. The last of the crow's nest -- IX. A death -- X. The new world -- XI. Gingerbread house -- XII. Daily troubles -- XIII. Ditte's confirmation.
"How few are the really first-rate novels interpreting a working woman's life! There is, of course, Martin Anerson Nexo's classic "Ditte," and there is - well, there is "Ditte."...Ditte is never poor in spirit, even from her early days as an unwanted, illegitimate child. Her aging grandparents who take her to live with them see life afresh through her wondering eyes and her fingers reaching out to explore the world about her. Later, Ditte is adopted by the kindly, naïve Lars Peter, the rag and bone man, looked down upon by well-to-do and poor alike as the least successful citizen in their midst. Going to live in Lars Peter's leaking, dilapidated "Cow's Nest," Ditte makes of it a shining home and becomes "Little Mother" to the younger children in the family...Ditte, growing up into young womanhood, is revealed in her complexities, her doubts and her rainbow joys. She participates in all experiences, hers is no shallow stream of consciousness, but a plunging into the moving current of life." -- From the book jacket.