Many readers associate Astrid Lindgren with her character Pippi Longstocking and rightly so - Pippi's fame has long surpassed her fictitious creation and the colossally strong girl has carved a world for herself, much like Collodi's Pinocchio who ceases to be a wooden puppet and becomes a 'real' boy of flesh and blood.
Published in Swedish in 1981
But Lindgren has created other longlasting characters, also worthy of mention and praise. There's Lisa from the Bullerbü world, there's Mio, the orphan child who goes on a magical journey of love, friendship and courage and then there is Ronia, the robber's daughter who defies her father and befriends the rival robber's son, Birk. The robber's world may at one time have been fun and adventurous but Ronia and Birk want nothing of it and their quest to create a path for themselves and to find themselves in the closed robber circle is one of adventures, love, hope, danger and friendship. This is a book set in the forested world inhabited by fearsome harpies, gray dwarves, rumphobs and murktrolls. The seasons and the mysterious forest with its warmth and hidden dangers are as much characters as the robbers and the two children who become one with nature.
It's a story about bonds and conflicting relationships, about a love between a father and a daughter and about holding on while letting go at the same time. Ronia's fearless and fearsome father Matt has disowned his daughter when she betrays him by crossing over to the enemy's side in order to save the captured Birk's life. Ronia struggles between love for her father and the resentment she harbors because of his generations-long enmity with the Borka clan and his theiving ways. But Matt also knows that to keep his daughter he has to give in and make peace.
It is a story about survival, about living in a lawless marginalised world and about acceptance. Ronia's escape into the forest and her coming of age will capture young readers who will share in her passions, fears and narrow escapes. The timeless character Ronia will always be remembered for her humour, fearlessness and strength. A book well worth reading!
It is a story about survival, about living in a lawless marginalised world and about acceptance. Ronia's escape into the forest and her coming of age will capture young readers who will share in her passions, fears and narrow escapes. The timeless character Ronia will always be remembered for her humour, fearlessness and strength. A book well worth reading!
