Lillehammer's most famous resident was a novelist, which gives the town an unusually strong claim on a reading list.
Sigrid Undset, Kristin Lavransdatter (1920–22) — three volumes set in 14th-century Norway, written partly at Undset's home in Lillehammer, in a valley she could see from her windows. The novel follows a woman's life from childhood in a farming community in the Gudbrandsdal through marriage, motherhood, and eventual renunciation. Vast, specific, and deeply embedded in the Norwegian landscape that surrounds the town — reading it before or after a visit to Maihaugen's medieval farm buildings is the experience of a lifetime.
Sigrid Undset, Jenny (1911) — an earlier, more personal novel about a young Norwegian woman artist in Rome. Less celebrated than Kristin Lavransdatter but quicker and more accessible for readers new to Undset.
Tor Edvin Dahl, Crime Fiction in Norway — not about Lillehammer specifically, but Scandinavian crime fiction has deep roots in the Norwegian landscape, and several crime writers have set stories in the Gudbrandsdal region. This essay collection provides context for the genre's popularity and its relationship to Norwegian society.