Karin Ann Margareta Bergman (22 August 1922 – 27 September 2006) was a Swedish novelist. She had an unhappy childhood in a strict

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

family, something depicted in her brother Ingmar Bergman's semi-autobiographical film '' Fanny och Alexander''.

Life and career

Margareta Bergman, the only sister of film director Ingmar Bergman (1918–2007), is the author of novels ''Karin'' and ''Mirror Mirror''. As a child of 8, she helped to inspire her brother Ingmar Bergman to create his first plays at home in 1930.Ingmar Bergman Overview
Retrieved 24 November 2011 Her older brother Dag Bergman (1914–1984) was an ambassador. Her father

Erik Bergman Erik Valdemar Bergman (24 November 1911, in Nykarleby – 24 April 2006, in Helsinki) was a composer of classical music from Finland. Bergman's style ranged widely, from Romanticism in his early works (many of which he later prohibited from bei ...

, a

priest, was extremely strict, and forced Margareta and her brothers to attend all of his Sunday church services. Ingmar Bergman's most personal feature film, that he had intended to be his last, was the somewhat autobiographical ''

Fanny and Alexander ''Fanny and Alexander'' ( sv, Fanny och Alexander) is a 1982 period drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The plot focuses on two siblings and their large family in Uppsala, Sweden during the first decade of the twentieth century. ...

'', based on his and Margareta's unhappy childhood. Margareta Bergman was married to English author and broadcaster

Paul Britten Austin Paul Britten Austin (5 April 1922 – 25 July 2005) was an English author, translator, broadcaster, administrator, and scholar of Swedish literature. He is known in particular for his translations of and books on the Swedish musician, si ...

from 1951 until his death in 2005. She had four children, Veronica Ralston (born 1951, who translated some of her books), Thomas Britten Austin, the sculptor Rose Britten Austin who is married to the artist Peter Ekberg Pelz, and Cecelia Britten Austin.

Reception

''Publishers Weekly'' wrote that in ''Mirror, Mirror'', Bergman draws on a similar set of images as her brother Ingmar Bergman— wild strawberries, an "actress struck mute by aphasia" but with a "more delicate and muted result." The review concludes "Bergman's prose carefully circles, rather than describes, the unspeakable, resulting in an austere work of art softened by a uniquely modern wisdom."

Bibliography

Novels available in English translation

* Margareta Bergman. ''Karin'',

Duckworth Duckworth may refer to: * Duckworth (surname), people with the surname ''Duckworth'' * Duckworth (''DuckTales''), fictional butler from the television series ''DuckTales'' * Duckworth Books, a British publishing house * , a frigate * Duckworth, W ...

, 1985. Translated by

. (Original title: ''Karin vid havet'') Reprinted St Martin's Press, 1989. * Margareta Bergman. ''Mirror Mirror'', 1986. Translated by Veronica Ralston. (Original title: ''Spegel, Spegel'') Reprinted Peter Owen, 1998.

Novels only available in Swedish

* Margareta Bergman. ''Ångestens barn'', Carlsson, 1992. * Margareta Bergman. ''Flickan i Obaldine: legendroman'',

Rabén & Sjögren Rabén & Sjögren is a book publishing company in Sweden. It was established in 1942 by and . Since 1998 it has been part of Norstedts förlag. The publishing focus is on children's and youth literature. Rabén & Sjögren was very successful, pu ...

, 1975. * Margareta Bergman. ''Den sommaren och andra noveller'',

, 1976. * Margareta Bergman. ''Puckelryggen: en romantisk berättelse'', Proprius, 1971.

References

External links

Publishers Weekly: Review of 'Mirror, Mirror'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergman, Margareta 1922 births 2006 deaths Swedish women novelists 20th-century Swedish novelists 20th-century Swedish women writers