The central plot elements in Lucky Per

Moving into section 3 (of 8) in Henrik Pontoppidan's long-forgotten but now revived in Everyman edition novel Lucky Per (1904), a fine novel about the lifelong education of an ambitious young man who rises from a poor and strictly devout family in the rural Denmark to some kind of prominence - not sure yet what that will be - in Copenhagen society. One of the many fine passages, toward the end of section 2, has Per reflect on the coldness and misery of his upbringing, with no joy in the house and every evening ending in prayers and penance, with the lively, scintillating environment in Copenhagen, in particular the life in the prominent Jewish family, the Salomons. Everything about the Salomons seems glamorous and alluring to Per, in particular the daughters; initially drawn to the beautiful younger daughter he finds himself, to his surprise, in love with the older (much too old for him it seems) daughter Jakobe, with her razor-sharp intellect. She seems decidedly not his type, but she has her own burdens - angry and resentful about the anti-Semitism in Danish culture at the time (about the 1860s?) and looking for a way to get for her family members the recognition and respect she believes they have earned. The family, led by the sometimes loathsome brother Ivan, agree to support Per in his grand project to build a canal system that will unite the cities of Denmark and provide access to trade and travel across Europe. So far he's met nothing but criticism and even ridicule for his project - particularly painful was an interview w/ a journalist that led not to a page-one story but to a small item that mocked the grand plan with the headline "Millionaires Wanted." We suspect that Per will triumph over his adversaries, and with the help of the intelligent Jakobe, but at great cost. It's not so easy to leave your family of origin behind, as both may discover.