Noble Life

A Noble Life takes its reader on a novel journey to the world of the early modern era. The leading character is a 17th century Swedish aristocrat, Gabriel Kurck. Lagerstam examines the life of Kurck, fascinating in its very ordinariness, through letters, memoirs, official records, paintings and artefacts. She also seeks to provide an insight into to complex, fragmentary concept of manhood in an era past. The result is a colourful portrait of the life of one aristocrat; of a child's belief in angels, the civility of a cavalier, the courage of an officer, the duties of a Crown servant, a husband's love and a father's grief.