Customer Reviews

Between Rocks and Hard Places

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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Between Rocks and Hard Places
By Ann Urness Gesme
Published by Caragana Press
Distributed by Astri My Astri Publishing

Traditions, customs, and conditions in Norway during the 1800s, emigration from Norway, the immigrant community in America.

* LOC: 92097349
* ISBN-10: 1886627134
* ISBN-13: 9781886627130
* Non-fiction, 200 pages
* 5.5 inches x 8.5 inches
* Softcover, illustrations
* Language: English

"Through painstaking work on three previous family histories (praised by the Norwegian American Historical Association as "thorough, well-written and carefully organized"), Ann Gesme has developed a deep familiarity with a wide array of primary sources from the emigration period. Now she has judiciously selected the kind of background information you will want to know in order to understand your own Norwegian roots. In her coverage of the span from the land left behind to the new home in the United States, she addresses not only the indispensable facts of geography and history, culture and society, but also the often over-looked aspects of daily life that allow us to glimpse the human beings who understood this incredible journey. The result is a lively and engaging account that is ultimately an excellent portal through which to enter or to broaden your own understanding of the Norwegian-American experience."

Between Rocks and Hard Places is a pleasure to read. Ann Urness Gesme is the rare scholar who writes with her eye always on the heart and soul of her subjects: the Norwegians who emigrated to the United States. She answers the questions you had in mind and those you hadn't thought to ask, taking genealogical research off the dry Census page and into the real lives of our Norwegian ancestors.

Between Rocks and Hard Places

This is a fascinating and enlightening book about the day to day existence of people in Norway during the past two centuries. I love to read this book while I'm in Norway staying with relatives. It is wonderful to have this information about how my ancestors lived. I look forward to Ann's next book.

I had spent many years doing US and Norwegain research on the Norwegian parts of my husband's and my family. There were constant questions I had about life in Norway before the families immigrated. It was frustrating since no one seemed to know the answers to my questions. When I found this book and read it, I was thrilled since finally there was good explanation of what life had been like in Norway. I have recommended this book to many people interested in Norwegian culture, and this evening I am ordering a copy for a cousin. The information is presented in an easy-to-read style, and covers many aspects of life.

The binding of the book was not good. I've had this problem with these books before. Other wise the book was in good shape and the service was good.

If you want to find out what life was like for Norwegians in the times before they started migrating to the USA, this book is an excellent source of information. Everything from food to clothes to government to laws are talked about in the book.