--- title: "My Reading Challenge Pick for...\"a novel by a Catholic author\"" description: Jessica Ptomey continues her Catholic Reading Challenge with a novel by a Catholic author. What novel would you recommend? image: https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/J-Ptomey-F.jpg --- [![catholic-mom-logo-v2](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/images/catholic-mom-logo-v2.svg "catholic-mom-logo-v2")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) [![search-icon](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/search-icon.svg)](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2018/10/25/my-reading-challenge-pick-for-a-novel-by-a-catholic-author/#) [BOOKS](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/tag/books) # My Reading Challenge Pick for..."a novel by a Catholic author" Oct 25, 2018 3:30:12 PM  |  by [Jessica Ptomey](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/jessica-ptomey) ![featured image](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/J-Ptomey-F.jpg) *I'm down to the last four categories of my [2018 Catholic Reading Challenge](http://jessicaptomey.com/2018/01/18/the-2018-catholic-reading-challenge/).** How about you? I am continuing to share what I am reading for the challenge with you. This was a repeat author for me ... and a beloved one!* [!["2018 Catholic Reaching Challenge" by Jessica Ptomey (CatholicMom.com)](http://catholicmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/J-Ptomey-Oct-1.jpg)](http://catholicmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/J-Ptomey-Oct-1.jpg) Copyright 2018 Jessica Ptomey. All rights reserved.[/caption] **Category: a novel by a Catholic author** **My Pick: *[Gunnar's Daughter](https://www.amazon.com/Gunnars-Daughter-Penguin-Twentieth-Classics/dp/014118020X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539628456&sr=8-1&keywords=gunnar%27s+daughter) *by Sigrid Undset** I fell in love with Norwegian and Nobel Prize-winning author Sigrid Undset last year when I read her epic *[Kristin Lavransdatter](https://www.amazon.com/Kristin-Lavransdatter-Penguin-Classics-Deluxe/dp/0143039164/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539629294&sr=8-1&keywords=kristin+lavransdatter+by+sigrid+undset)*and, about the same time, [her biography of my confirmation saint, *Catherine of Siena*](https://www.amazon.com/Catherine-Siena-Sigrid-Undset/dp/1586174088/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539629352&sr=8-1&keywords=catherine+of+siena+undset)*.* Undset is a writer with a profound gift for communicating universal themes of the human experience. *Kristin Lavransdatter *(both the book and the masterfully-written heroine) still pervades my spiritual imagination; and Catherine of Siena set a new standard for biographies of saints. I've written about both books [here](http://jessicaptomey.com/2017/02/10/my-reading-challenge-pick-for-novel-by-a-catholic-author/) and [here](http://jessicaptomey.com/tag/st-catherine-of-siena/), for last year's Reading Challenge. *Gunnar's Daughter, *written 10 years before *Kristin Lavransdatter* and a fraction of its length, is a really quick read ... really quick. In fact, it's a real page-turner. If you have a rainy day and a comfy chair, you might rip right through it. I read it over a couple of days. Here's the crazy thing though: when I finished, it felt like I had just read an epic! The story and the characters make you feel that way. Though it had none of the intricate layers and extensive plot lines of one of Undset's 1,000-page novels, the character sketches were nonetheless thick, real, and lasting in your memory. If you are sensitive about certain content, read a summary of the plot that doesn't give the story away. Though rape and childhood death are elements in the story, they are not explicit. (She's not that kind of writer.) Her characters are such real people -- ones that could live during any point in history. I'm just impressed at how much of them she could give me in so few words. Another interesting element of the novel is that it is set in eleventh century Norway and Iceland, about 300 years before *Kristin Lavransdatter's *time period. This is Norway's pre-Christian era. So you get a sense of how different the religious culture was from a few centuries later during Kristin's era. In fact, famed king and saint Olav, referenced many times in *Kristin*, is a character in this novel. Good historic fiction is my favorite way to absorb the history of a time, place, and people. If you haven't read Sigrid Undset, this might be a great entry point. ### What did ***you ***read for **"a novel by a Catholic author"**? [!["2018 Catholic Reaching Challenge" by Jessica Ptomey (CatholicMom.com)](http://catholicmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/J-Ptomey-Oct-2.jpg)](http://catholicmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/J-Ptomey-Oct-2.jpg) Copyright 2018 Jessica Ptomey. All rights reserved.[/caption] --- *Copyright 2018 Jessica Ptomey * ### Share this article [![Share on Facebook](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/facebook-24x24.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2018%2F10%2F25%2Fmy-reading-challenge-pick-for-a-novel-by-a-catholic-author%2F%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) [![Share on Twitter](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/twitter-24x24.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2018%2F10%2F25%2Fmy-reading-challenge-pick-for-a-novel-by-a-catholic-author%2F%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2018%2F10%2F25%2Fmy-reading-challenge-pick-for-a-novel-by-a-catholic-author%2F%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&source=tweetbutton&text=My%20Reading%20Challenge%20Pick%20for...%22a%20novel%20by%20a%20Catholic%20author%22) [![Share on Email](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/email-24x24.png)](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2018%2F10%2F25%2Fmy-reading-challenge-pick-for-a-novel-by-a-catholic-author%2F%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail%20&body=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2018%2F10%2F25%2Fmy-reading-challenge-pick-for-a-novel-by-a-catholic-author%2F%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail) ** #### About the Author ![Jessica Ptomey](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/Jessica%20Ptomey%20Jan%202022.jpg) ### [Jessica Ptomey](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/jessica-ptomey) Jessica Ptomey is a Catholic convert, author, speaker, Communications scholar, home educator, and Director of Religious Education at Sacred Heart Church in Bowie, MD. She blogs at [JessicaPtomey.com](http://www.jessicaptomey.com). She is the author of [Home in the Church: Living an Embodied Catholic Faith](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1642797081?pf_rd_p=ab873d20-a0ca-439b-ac45-cd78f07a84d8&pf_rd_r=MJSXMAAC1CWKFJREGT3J), and her research in inter-faith dialogue has been published in the Journal of Communication and Religion (JCR). She is also the co-host with her husband Mike of [The Catholic Reading Challenge podcast](https://anchor.fm/catholicreadingchallenge). ## Related Blog Articles [ The 2017 Catholic Reading Challenge Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2017/01/26/2017-catholic-reading-challenge) [ Rightfully Ours: A Theology of the Body Coming of Age Story Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2017/03/30/rightfully-ours) [ My Reading Challenge Pick: "A work of poetry by a Catholic author" Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2018/05/24/my-reading-challenge-pick-a-work-of-poetry-by-a-catholic-author/) ## Comments ## Donate now [![Support Catholic Mom](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/275132/10016573-1c5c-4aa5-baba-c2ac91fe7545.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/275132/10016573-1c5c-4aa5-baba-c2ac91fe7545) [![CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c (002)](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c%20(002).png?width=1806&height=731&name=CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c%20(002).png "CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c (002)")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) ##### Subscribe to Catholic Momcast on iTunes or Spotify [![itunes-logo-black](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/logos/itunes-logo-black.svg)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catholic-momcast/id1362352357)[![spotify-logo-black](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/logos/spotify-logo-black.svg)](https://open.spotify.com/show/15CoipHL7z61IDcYErV0b8?si=hqaQJSxDQgq7S1hxCwsoxQ) ##### CatholicMom on Social Networks [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) ##### About Catholic Mom [Who We Are](https://www.catholicmom.com/about-us) [Contact Us](https://www.catholicmom.com/contact) [Support CatholicMom.com](https://www.catholicmom.com/support-us)   ##### Associated Links [Holy Cross Family Ministries](https://www.hcfm.org/) [Family Rosary](https://www.familyrosary.org/) [Family Theater Productions](https://www.familytheater.org/) [Congregation of the Holy Cross](https://www.holycrossusa.org/) [Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C.](https://www.fatherpeyton.org/) [The Peyton Institute for Domestic Church Life](https://www.peytonfamilyinstitute.org/) ### **Stay connected!** Don’t miss a thing! 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