Anna Barwell 
Liliecrona’s Home 
A Novel by Selma Lagerlof

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. On Christmas Day, 1880, a pitiless storm raged over Lovsjo (Green Lake) District in Varmland. It seemed as though the heavens meant to tear up everything on earth and make a clean sweep of it all.<br><br>Now, do not say that no doubt there have been storms as bad both before and since, and, above all, do not let any of the Lovsjo dwellers hear you, for they have known from their earliest childhood that the like of this storm could never even be imagined.<br><br>They can still count up all the fences that were torn down, all the thatched roofs snatched off, all the cow-houses blown over, so that for days the poor beasts lay buried in the ruins. And they can point to all the places where fire broke out and was fanned by the wind until the whole village was in ashes. And they have been on all the heights and mountain-tops where tree after tree fell, until they stood naked and bare as they are to-day.