Barbara Mathilde Ring is best known for her children’s books about Peik and Fjellmus. She was the daughter of High Court Judge Ole Ring from the large estate of Ring-Stabekk near Oslo and the great-grandchild of the writer Hanna Winsnes. She divorced her first husband and supported her daughter as a single mother for several years.
She was an immensely productive literary critic and writer and made her debut with the novel for young ladies Babbens dagbok, 1904. She wrote in many genres for both adults and children and was renowned for her impressionist style. As a writer, she cherished the old values of the farming community such as strong family ties and affection for Norwegian soil and culture. She was one of the first writers to portray children as the victims of divorce in her anonymously published Vi fraskilte Barn. Ved et av dem, 1924.
