Denmark, Vermont and a musical household
Larsen’s own narrative supplies much of what can be said securely about her life. She recalls leaving Denmark for America and keeping a Danish lawyer, Rosengaard, to look after her affairs. Her opening episode places her in Burlington, Vermont, in the autumn of 1910. Her husband was a violinist, and music rehearsed in the house forms a recurring point of reference in her account.
She describes herself at that time as a middle-aged woman with greying hair. Beyond these glimpses, her education, early family life and precise life dates remain uncertain. The account published in 1927 preserves a domestic setting alongside her understanding of experiences she considered extraordinary.
An involuntary journey beyond the body
In the introduction Larsen distinguishes her claimed travels from messages received through a medium. She says the ability came unasked and that she could remember and reflect on what she saw. The first episode begins with oppression and paralysis while she listens to Beethoven. She then describes seeing her physical body from outside it and encountering a spirit who prevents her from descending the stairs.
Later encounters carry recognisable relationships into the afterlife she describes, including a meeting with Rosengaard after his letters had stopped. Larsen presents these scenes as experiences rather than fiction, while acknowledging that readers may doubt them. Lumitheca’s 1927 copy gives Rutland, Vermont, on its title page and prints an endorsement attributed to Arthur Conan Doyle. The endorsement records the book’s presentation; it does not independently verify the journeys.
