A Land to Call Home (Red River of the North #3) [Paperback]

Lauraine Snelling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2006

A Land to Call Home continues the Ingeborg Bjorklund saga as her family works the land and builds a community. Through heartache and back-breaking labor, Ingeborg knows that God has been with them every step of the way. But when a fire nearly destroys all they've worked for, will their faith remain steadfast? (Red River of the North - Book 3)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this third volume of the "Red River of the North" series (e.g., A New Day Rising, Bethany, 1996), mishap continues to prey on the extended Bjorklund family, who immigrated to and settled on the Dakota prairie in the 1880s. However, the Bjorklunds have a strong faith in God and continue to believe life will improve. Unfortunately, Kaaren Knutson gives birth to twin girls under difficult circumstances and then realizes that one has been born deaf. Another Bjorklund relative, Solveig, arrives from Norway, only to be injured in a train accident. Meanwhile, the unsettled prairie is becoming a thing of the past. As family sagas go, this is a sound one, with some compelling characters and conflicts. Readers who want gentle romance novels should find this as appealing as the previous volumes.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

LAURAINE SNELLING is an award-winning author of fifty-plus books, including her beloved series Dakotah Treasures and Red River of the North. She also writes for a wide range of magazines and teaches at writers' conferences across the country. She and her husband make their home in Tehachapi, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Bethany House Publishers; Repack edition (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076420193X
• ISBN-13: 978-0764201936
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #251,454 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lauraine Snelling, an award-winning author of fifty-plus books with sales of over 2 million copies, also writes for a wide range of magazines and teaches at writers' conferences across the country. She and her husband make their home in Tehachapi, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Town of "Blessing", May 12, 2001

By 

Bonnie McKinzie (Garden Grove, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Land to Call Home (Red River of the North #3) (Paperback)

Book 3 in Red River of the North opens with Penny writing to the absent Hjelmer who has fled the area to avoid a "shotgun wedding" trick. Even though he is young and immature, he is a hard worker with an eye for the future and inside information on the plans of the railroad. Kaaren delivers twins, nearly dying. One twin is not healthy and Lars cannot accept his deaf daughter. School is in full swing in the prairie schoolhouse, with Kaaren as teacher.

Ingeborg and Haaken travel a far distance by train to escort home the seriously injured younger sister of Kaaren. Solveig is a bitter, disappointed young woman who was on her way to join her sister, but whose future is crushed in a train wreck. Face scarred and barely walking, she goes home with Ingeborg and Haaken. Olaf, Kaaren's long lost uncle, mysteriously turns up after a long absence and his many talents make him useful and loved.

Penny has finally decided to travel to Fargo for work and further schooling. The farms continue to progress - a large wooden barn now graces the homestead of Ingeborg who gives birth to another baby, Haaken's first biological child. Metiz continues to weave in and out of the lives of the pioneer families. Her grandson, Baptiste, stays with his friend Thorliff to go to school and help with the farm work.

As much as she balks, Ingeborg gives up her plowing and hunting after teaching young Thorliff to take her place. As usual, tragedy does not pass over them without leaving scars. A tragic fire, blizzards and failing farms cause loss of life and dreams. Agnes give birth to a stillborn daugher. She harbors intensive anger toward Hjelmer for hurting her dear niece, Penny.

The railroad is coming and the time for proving up their land arrives. Both the Bjorkland widows are remarried with families. Extra people share both homes now. A large sack house stores their grain for direct loading on the train.

The book ends with their town becoming a water stop for the railroad, a real town with a real name, Blessing. In spite of the author's confusion with family relationships and forgetting Kaaren's married name, book 3 still deserves 4 stars.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This you cannot put down!, September 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Land to Call Home (Red River of the North #3) (Paperback)

Those pioneers are sooo brave! I wish I could be like them. Lauraine is an excellent author. Keep it up!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This was a really terrific book !, July 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Land to Call Home (Red River of the North #3) (Paperback)

This book was just as excellant as the first two. Ingeborg Bjorklund looks back at all the labor the first four years of taming the new land have brought her. Hjelmer her brother-in-law has traveled west to work on the railroad and he only sends one letter to Penny who is waiting back home for him. Penny is trying to keep her promise but there are other eligible gentlemen waiting. The homesteaders must still trust God to get through their struggles. This was an excellant book and I highly recommend it for any reader craving a good fiction book!!!