Background
Sara Cecilia Görvell Fabricius was born in Kristiania (now Oslo). When she was 12 years old, financial difficulties forced her family to move to Tromsø where her father was appointed a naval commander.
Sara Cecilia Görvell Fabricius was born in Kristiania (now Oslo). When she was 12 years old, financial difficulties forced her family to move to Tromsø where her father was appointed a naval commander.
Her most famous works are the novels now known as the Alberta Trilogy. Her parents were Jens Schow Fabricius (1839–1910) and Anna Margareta Greger (1858–1903). She started painting under the tutelage of Harriet Backer, and at 25 years of age moved to Paris to paint.
In 1921, they returned to Sweden.
The couple separated in 1922. Their divorce was finalized in 1926, the same year "Albert and Jacob" published.
During her years in Paris, Sandel helped support the family with short stories and sketches published in Norway. However, her first novel and first tome in the trilogy, Alberte and Jakob, was not published until 1926 when Sandel was 46 years of age.
This began the semi-autobiographical Alberta trilogy.
Sandel used many elements from her own life and experiences in her stories, which often centre on the spiritual and societal struggles women marginalized by the strict confines of 19th century society. These novels earned her an immediate place in the Scandinavian canon, but it was not until the 1960s that Sandel, then living quietly in Sweden, was discovered by the English-speaking world. Despite her great literary success, she remained hidden behind her pseudonym and lived a rather secluded life.
Her home in Tromsø, built in 1838, now houses the Perspektivet Museum.
