Jerusalem: A Novel
by Selma Lagerlöf
About_
Jerusalem is a novel by Selma Lagerlöf that follows a farming community in rural Sweden as faith, family loyalty,
and personal ambition divide the villagers. This study guide covers the novel through Book Three’s departure of the
pilgrims, helping students track characters, events, and themes. This study guide contains 65 questions across 5
chapter sections (50 Factual + 15 Critical), 1 Crossword Puzzle (12 clues), and 1 Character Focus Activity.
What’s Included_
This study guide features 5 sets of 10 Factual Questions with an answer key (50 total), 5 sets of 3 Critical Analysis
Questions (15 total), 1 Crossword Puzzle (12 clues), and 1 Character Focus Activity (8 traits + evidence prompt +
critical thinking question).
Target Grades_
Grades 9-11
Teacher Note_
This guide helps students build close-reading skills with a rich, complex novel, moving from factual recall to deeper
critical thinking. The ready-to-use questions, answer key, and activities save you valuable preparation time. Your
students will gain confidence as they discuss the characters’ difficult choices.
Meet the Author: Selma Lagerlöf
Selma Lagerlöf (1858–1940) was a Swedish writer known for blending everyday life, folklore, and deep questions about faith
and morality. In 1909 she became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Her novel Jerusalem was published in
two parts in 1901 and 1902.
A Story Rooted in Real Places
The novel is set in Dalarna, a rural region of Sweden known for its forests, rivers, and close-knit farming communities. Lagerlöf
drew inspiration from real events, in which a group of Swedish farmers left their homeland in the 1890s to join a religious
community in Jerusalem. Reading the novel helps students see how landscape, family land, and tradition shaped people’s lives
in nineteenth-century rural Sweden.
Faith, Family, and Community
As you read, notice how the novel explores what people owe to their families, their land, and their beliefs. Religion is shown as
a source of comfort and unity, but also as something that can raise hard questions. Keep an eye out for how characters
balance duty and personal desire, and how a whole community responds to change.