opening of the novel follows Jérôme aboard a steamer from England, where his exuberant imagination turns every sight into legend and where he instantly falls for Uni, a cool, lively astronomy student. In Bergen he’s mobbed by journalists and miscast as a pundit on everything, then on the train to Christiania he finds Uni again and learns her cheerful companion is her brother, Axel. In the capital he becomes a minor celebrity, is whisked by Axel to meet his translator-mother, Clara Krag (a reformist, vegetarian novelist), and the good-humored Minister Krag, then confers with the theatre director about staging his play. A Sunday at Holmenkollen shows the brisk, sportive Norway of his dreams; amid playful skiing and a clumsy compliment that lands awkwardly, Jérôme’s infatuation deepens, even as a boisterous dinner with newspapermen leaves him thinking only of Uni. (This is an automatically generated summary.)