Posted in 52 Books in 52 Weeks 2009

This is Book 3 of the Emigrants series by Moberg.  It details the Swedish immigration to the United States in the mid-1800s through the fictional family of Karl Oskar and Kristina Nilsson.  This book is the longest, and it is very well-written.  Moberg’s depiction of Kristina’s abiding homesickness is poignant and moving, and the resolution of it was to me unexpected.  Karl Oskar’s younger brother Robert is one of the most fascinating characters that I have encountered.  He emigrates with them and then goes with a friend to follow the gold to California.  The way in which Moberg tells us what happens to him is so dramatic: we are in Karl Oskar and Kristina’s position, knowing only what they know, feeling the anxiety they feel.

Moberg places the family within the historical framework of what emigration meant to Sweden and to the people who left.  Reading this series has, for the first time, made me think about how national character might have been shaped by emigration.  What kind of people stayed in Sweden?  What kind emigrated?  What effect did this have on future generations?

It has also made me think about how relatively easy it is to care for my children.  Kristina’s children are outgrowing their clothes and need new ones, so she actually has to grow the flax, weave the fabric, and then cut out and sew the clothes.  When these wear out, there is no inexpensive thrift store nearby.  These have to last!  And last week, when my son was cold while waiting at ballet, I had many options to take care of him: go inside, put him in the van, give him my mittens, my scarf or my coat, etc.  What if we were in our house and I couldn’t get him any warmer?  What if we were caught in a blizzard?  And while there may not be the food they like in the house, there is actually some kind of food.  How would it feel to watch my children starving?

I highly recommend this series.  One caveat: it tends to be rather graphic (in a physical sense), the first book especially so.  Book 1 is The Emigrants, and this details the conditions in Sweden and why this group of people decides to leave.  It ends with them landing in New York.  Book 2 is called Unto a Good Land and tells their journey to Minnesota.  Book 3 ends in 1860, on the eve of the Civil War, and Book 4, The Last Letter Home, tells of the period from 1860 to 1890.  I can’t wait to read that one!