Review by Booklist Review
Dreaming of a better life and freedom in America, Gustaf and Anna Klar leave Sweden with their three children in 1897. They settle in Swede Hollow, a cluster of shacks located in a ravine on the edge of St. Paul, Minnesota. There men find work as day laborers or work for the railroad, while women work as house cleaners, factory workers, or in laundries. The Klars and their fellow Swedish immigrants suffer the hardships and indignities of poverty and the strain of living on the edge of Minnesotan society. But life in their makeshift city, considered by many to be a disease-ridden slum, is also filled with joy, kindness, and a strong sense of community. Larsmo's (Deceit, 2012) sobering, realistic portrayal of Swedish immigration to America pulls readers into a richly detailed world peopled with unforgettable characters. Extensively researched and beautifully translated, Larsmo's novel is the epic story of a family and a community struggling to survive and an intimate look at the complexities of immigration.--Carol Gladstein Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Swedish critic and columnist Larsmo's poignant first novel to be translated into English follows the tribulations of an immigrant-heavy township outside of St. Paul, Minn., during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Gustaf and Anna Klar leave Sweden for the United States with their three children in search of a fresh start after Gustaf stabs a man during a fight. The family perseveres through the cramped and uncomfortable journey by ship to Ellis Island, struggles to find employment in New York, and moves to Swede Hollow, Minn., eventually settling into their new home living alongside other Swedish immigrants, as well as immigrants from Ireland and Italy. The men seek jobs with the railroads, while the women find work cleaning, sewing, and doing laundry. The narrative jumps between Gustaf and Anna's industrious working lives (which eventually leads to the establishment of their own shoe-making shop) and the travails of their children--Ellen, Elisabet, and Carl. Ellen, the eldest, has the most success adjusting, as she works her way up from cleaning to working as a seamstress and eventually becoming a skilled typist. As the family scrambles to make ends meet, they face poor living conditions, disease, and discrimination. But they find love and friendship as well in the tight-knit, hardscrabble community. Larsmo's well-researched, dynamic story illuminates the Swedish immigrant experience and will transport readers into a little-known historical community. (Oct.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Several families emigrate from Sweden to Minnesota in the final years of the 19th century in Swedish journalist and novelist Larsmo's affecting, scrupulously detailed novel.Anna and Gustaf Klar and their three children travel in steerage from England to New York and along the way make friends with reticent widowed Mrs. Lundgren, her strange son, David, and chatty Inga. After a short stint in New York, they all make their way to St. Paul, where they settle in a small immigrant community down in a ravine. Larsmo follows the members of the group and some of their new neighbors through the next couple of decades. As the novel goes on, the two Klar daughters, Elisabet and particularly Ellen, emerge as its central characters. Most of the novel consists of the stuff of daily life. Characters go to school, get temporary and then more permanent jobs, fall in love and marry, and sometimes die. The mysterious David gets a more dramatic storyline. Chapters called "The Tragic Story of Agnes Karin, David, and Horrible Hans"rather than the place names Larsmo normally uses as chapter titlesdetail a story that includes a murder and a stint in prison. The novel also veers off course to include the story of a lynching and edited transcripts of actual newspaper features about St. Paul generally and Swede Hollow specifically. Those looking for a conventional plot won't find it here: Larsmo writes believable scenes grounded in sensory experience, with relatively complicated characters, in some sort of chronological order, but also seems content to branch out into what are essentially self-contained short stories about characters peripheral to the main intertwined family saga.A worthy addition to the shelf of books about the immigrant experience. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
