Swarmers

"The housemaid in the rectory, Marie van Loos, stands in the kitchen window and looks far up the road. She knows the two up there by the gate, it is clearly the telegraphist Rolandsen, her own fiancé, and the bell-ringer's daughter Olga. Now it was the second time she had seen these two together this spring; what could that mean? If Miss van Loos had not had so much to do just now, she would have gone straight up the road to them and demanded an explanation."

1904

The action in Svermere (1904) is set in the northern Norwegian trading post of Rosengaard, where a brother of Mack at Sirilund rules.

The main character is the staunch but charming and inventive telegraphist Ove Rolandsen. Rolandsen is engaged to the maiden van Loos, but at the same time in love with the nesse king's daughter, Elise. The novel also gives a fine depiction of the difficult marriage of the local priest, and the portrait of the fickle and impulsive priestess is fascinating.

Svermere gives a good picture of life in a small trading post around the turn of the century, and is based on a harsh realism that contrasts with the previous books' focus on quirky and peculiar wanderer and artist characters.