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VILHELM
MOBERG
THE EMIGRANT NOVELS
The Emigrants
Book 1 introduces Karl Oskar and Kristina Nilsson, their three young children and eleven others who make up a resolute party of Swedes fleeing the poverty, religious persecution, and social oppression of Småland in 1850. The Nilssons leave a farm too small and stony to support them. Kristina's uncle, Danjel Andreasson seeks
religious freedom for himself, his wife, |
and four children. Ulrika of
Västergöhl, once the town whore, is determined to live with her daughter in a place where no one knows her past. Karl Oskar's brother, Robert, travels with his friend Arvid Pettersson to escape their lot as farmhands. And Jonas Petter Albrektsson decides to desert his shrewish wife. For 10 long weeks they suffer the cramped, filthy quarters of the sailing vessel that finally brings them to New York City.
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Unto A Good Land
Book 2 opens in the summer of 1850 as the emigrants disembark in New York City. Their journey to a new home in Minnesota Territory takes them by riverboat, steam wagon, Great Lakes steamship, and oxcart to Chisago County. There the Nilssons claim 160 acres and begin farming. It is a year of struggle, but the kindness of their newfound friends---both American and Swedish--helps temper the difficulties wrought by little cash, scant knowledge of English, and late-summer planting.
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The Settlers
Book 3 focuses on Karl Oskar and Kristina as they struggle to prosper on their new farm. Kristina, coping with a feeling of loss for Sweden and the difficulty of adapting to a new land, draws strength from a newfound spirituality. Karl Oskar brings more land under cultivation and harvests rye, wheat, and corn. Together they survive blizzards, grasshopper plagues, wildcat currency speculation, and self-righteous neighbors. With friends, they rejoice in the arrival of more Swedes, build a church, move into their new house, and even plant a small flower garden. Karl Oskar's brother, Robert falls victim to gold fever and with his friend Arvid embarks on an arduous journey to California.
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The Last Letter Home
Book 4 portrays the family of Karl Oskar and Kristina prospering in the midst of Minnesota's growing Swedish community of the 1860s-90s. Years of toil have brought them a comfortable house and a thriving farm. Now they face an especially terrible challenge as the new state of Minnesota struggles through two bloody conflicts ---the Civil War and the Dakota War. The family remains steadfastly united through wartime turmoil and fears for the safety of loved ones. Kristina finally tastes the first apple ripened on the tree grown from seed sent from Sweden. Like her family, the tree has taken root and thrived in the new land.
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