
A young child awakens in a cramped attic, the only light filtering through a small window onto a world already marked by loss. Mother dies when the child is barely a year old, and the father’s remarriage brings a stepmother whose cold words and harsh treatment make the house feel like a prison. With barely enough food to keep the fire dim, the child learns early on that every day is a struggle for warmth, shelter, and a sliver of affection.
Forced to leave the home at a tender age, the child ventures into the streets, pleading for crumbs and coins to stave off hunger. Encounters with strangers range from indifferent passers‑by to a compassionate girl who offers a bruised apple, a small mercy that fuels both body and spirit. Amidst the relentless cold and the bitter echoes of the stepmother’s threats, the narrator clings to a fragile hope, discovering a quiet determination to survive in a world that seems determined to overlook them.
Language
fi
Duration
~5 hours (325K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Release date
2019-01-06
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1836–1921
A Danish novelist and storyteller, she wrote about women's lives, social expectations, and emotional independence with unusual insight for her time. Her books won readers in Denmark and abroad, and her early fiction is still noted as an important contribution to 19th-century women's literature.
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