Agnes
By Minna Canth
The narrator, a busy wife and mother in a provincial town, has adored Agnes since their school days for her eyes, her elegance and her freedom. When Agnes comes back, chic and admired, the two women's very different lives are set side by side, and the narrator begins to see what her idol's independence costs. A short novel on women's choices by the leading Finnish realist.
Summary written with Claude Opus 5.5.