Viking Magazine - October 2021 - 17

an American ship crossing the Atlantic,
influencing FDR to sign the Lend-Lease
Act and receiving the Grand Cross, the
highest rank of Saint Olav's Order, for
her efforts on behalf of Norway. (See the
sidebar on page 15 to learn what was
dramatized for the show.)
" She changed the way she looked at
herself primarily, and she realized that
she actually had political influence, " Eik
says of Märtha in an interview with PBS
Masterpiece. " She developed from being
an icon of the old world to becoming a
liberated woman. She had to learn to make
her own decisions. "
" All bets are off in love and war. You
do whatever it takes to make sure your
side comes out on top, " says Kallestein,
who is now working on a nonfiction
book about Märtha. " It would be silly to
assume that everybody wouldn't do their
part, and the Crown Princess happened
to have the President's ear. You think
she didn't use that opportunity to keep
Norway's cards front and center? We
know she did. We know the Norwegian
government used her as a Trojan horse
to relay information, so she would
always be up to speed on what Norway
needed at any given time. She was an
informal lobbyist,
basically. "
" It's a story
that needs to
be told, and it
seems to wake
something in a
lot of people. "
-Linda May Kallestein,
co-writer of " Atlantic Crossing "
Criticized and Crowd-Pleasing
As the " Atlantic Crossing " team attempted
to condense five years into eight onehour
episodes, they, too, had some tough
decisions to make: hundreds of pages
of the script were cut out, locations and
timelines were altered, and characters who
didn't exist in real life were created to fit
the story.
Though the producers were careful
to market the show as being " inspired
by a true story, " allowing the writers
the creative license to dramatize and
fictionalize certain events, it still drew
some criticism from historians who
believed the show gave Märtha too much
credit for her role in the war.
The Norwegian
public, and the
rest of the world,
celebrated the
depiction of
Märtha-who
passed away
in 1954, at the
age of 53-as
a heroine.
Positive ratings
in Scandinavia
prompted the
show to be
broadcast in 30
countries, earning a quality stamp of
approval from PBS when the network
picked up the show in the U.S.
" It's nice to dig out a story that has
been forgotten and elevate somebody
who really deserves it. It's a story that
needs to be told, and it seems to wake
something in a lot of people, " says
Kallestein of the show's popularity. " I got
an email from somebody just the other
day saying her mother gave Märtha a
bouquet of flowers when she was on a
tour during the war. So that's her mother's
story and it's her story. Even if people
don't have a direct link, if you have a
Scandinavian background, this is a part
of your story, too. "
How to
Watch
" Atlantic
Crossing "
MASTERPIECE PBS'
" Atlantic Crossing "
is currently available
for streaming
via Passport (a
station member
benefit) and the
MASTERPIECE PBS
Amazon Channel.
Visit to.pbs.
org/3Cz1zMM to
subscribe to PBS
Passport.
Viking Magazine - October 2021

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