An Untamed Land by Lauraine Snelling

Norway 1877

'Gustaf Bjorklund waited patiently in his chair at the head of the oval oak table for the members of his family to take their seats so the discussion could begin.  He stroked his gray beard with fingers coarsened and cracked by years of heavy labor in the frigid Norwegian winter air.  One curling strand caught in an open crack and he felt the small twinge of pain.' 

And so the story of the Bjorklunds migration to America begins with this opening chapter of Lauraine Snellings An Untamed Land~

I really enjoyed this book, staying awake until 2 this morning to get it finished! Roald and Ingeborg Bjorklund traveled from Norway to America along with Roald's brother Carl and his wife Kaaren in 1880. After a long ship ride and then cross country journey, they settled on land in North Dakota for their homestead. Breaking the sod for planting and building a home took much hard work from these very strong and stubborn people. The hardships and heartache's they experienced along the way are faced with faith in God and hope for the future. 

My sister lives in North Dakota so as I was reading, I was picturing the land as it would have been in the late 1880's and can't even imagine the terrible blizzards they would have faced in the wintertime. Ingeborg was a very strong woman, stubborn at times with the wish to be more help on the homestead than just the woman that was needed to tend the children and the garden. I could really relate to her and all she felt. The end of the book had me in tears, which doesn't happen often but I am glad to know that I can visit Ingeborg again with the next book in this series.