Novelist, essayist and poet.
She did a History course at St Olaf College and got a PhD in English at Columbia University. She has received honorary doctorates from the universities of Oslo and Stendhal-Grenoble and Gutenberg University-Mainz.
Her works have been translated into more than 30 languages, the highlights of these being «The Summer Without Men», «What I Love» and «The Blazing World».