Published in two parts in 1901 and 1902, Jerusalem is a multigenerational saga that tells the story of families in Dalarna, Sweden, and a Swedish church group who emigrated to a utopian Christian commune in Jerusalem, Israel. Inspired by a real parish group from Nås, Sweden, Lagerlöf painstakingly researched the accounts of many real emigrants to the American Colony in Jerusalem, interviewing the colony's founders, Horatio and Anna Spafford.
Parts of the novel were adapted into two films, Sons of Ingmar and Karin Daughter of Ingmar, by Swedish director Victor Sjöström, in 1919 and 1920, before Sjöström abandoned the project, citing poor critical reception. In 1925, Swedish director Gustaf Molander picked up the project and adapted the first book, Ingmarsarvet, in 1925, and the second book, Till Österland, in 1926. In 1959, the novel was adapted into a play, which is performed annually in Nås, Dalarna, Sweden. In 1996, Danish filmmaker Bille August adapted the novel under the title Jerusalem.
