Settlers: The Emigrant Novels Book 3 [Paperback]

Vilhelm Moberg (Author), Gustaf Lannestock (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1995 | Series: Emigrant Novels (Book 3)

Book Three focuses on Karl Oskar and Kristina as they adapt to their new homeland and struggle to survive on their new farm.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Published between 1951 and 1961, Moberg's four-volume "Emigrant" epic offers the saga of the Swedish immigrant's role in the settling of the American frontier.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Swedish

Product Details

• Paperback: 431 pages
• Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Press (September 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873513215
• ISBN-13: 978-0873513210
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,002 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Settle into a Good Read!, March 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Settlers: The Emigrant Novels Book 3 (Paperback)

This is the third book in a series by the talented author, Vilhelm Moberg. It follows the story of the struggling Swedish family of Kristina and Karl Oskar, who are trying to survive and make a better life for themselves and their children in America. I would reccommend reading the first two books in the exciting saga before reading The Settlers, so you'll know how and why Karl Oskar and his wife came to America in the first place. I really enjoyed reading all three of these books, but I especially liked this one because of the vivid descriptions and the overall story of their hardships and how they overcome them. I would definitely suggest that you get your hands on a copy of The Settlers as soon as possible! This is absolutely a two thumbs up read!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE SWEDISH STATE OF MINNESOTA..., January 1, 2004

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Settlers: The Emigrant Novels Book 3 (Paperback)

This is an epic work by its Swedish author, who is considered to be one of Sweden's greatest writers. Translated from Swedish into English, this beautifully written book of historical fiction was first published in 1956. It is the third part of a four part opus, the first two of which are "The Emigrants" and "Unto a Good Land". The last book is aptly titled "Last Letter Home".

In the first volume, "The Emigrants", the author detailed the emigration of a Swedish family to the New World, grounding it in the reasons for the exodus of so many Swedes from their mother country in the middle of the 19th century. The focus of the first book in this four part opus is on the family, relatives, and friends of Karl Oscar Nilsson, a peasant farmer who unceasingly worked his farm, only to find that, no matter what he did, he could not progress and would continue to live on the cusp of total poverty. The focus of the first book is on their life in Sweden. Gathering up family and friends of the family, the Nilssons decide to take the monumental step of making a fresh start by emigrating to the new world, specifically the United States of America.

The second volume, "Unto a Good Land", focuses on the arrival of the Nilsson family and friends in the United States of America. It details their journey from New York, a journey that was to take them across the Midwest by rail, steamer, and foot, to arrive in the wilds of what would one day be the State of Minnesota. It is in this wilderness that the Nilsson family and friends would homestead and struggle to make a new home. The author regales the reader with the travails this hardy group of settlers would encounter in their efforts to create by the sweat of their brow a new home in the wilderness. The early struggles of the Nilsson family to succeed in what was an unknown frontier is engagingly chronicled.

In "The Settlers", the author continues the story of the Nilsson family and friends. It is the story of a family who struggled to prevail in Minnesota, an alien land of harsh, inhospitable winters and scorching summers. The book continues to chronicle their lives and their adaptation to the adopted country that they would forever call home. It tells the story of the divided Nilsson brothers, each of whom would forge a path alien to the other. The author hones in on the fact that the early settlers were subject to being taken advantage of by the unscrupulous. He highlights the mass migration of disaffected Swedes to Minnesota and details their contribution to the prosperity of that part of the country. The author shows how these early Swedish settlers consolidated themselves into a thriving, bustling community, despite the obstacles and hardships that were to be their lot in the early years of their struggle to make the new land yield to their will.

I have enjoyed the first, second, and third volumes so much that I look forward to continuing this journey with the Nilssons by reading the last remaining volume. Well-written and vibrant with period detail, this is a book that those who enjoy historical fiction will appreciate.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, April 9, 2001

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Settlers: The Emigrant Novels Book 3 (Paperback)

The Settlers follows the experiences of Karl Oskar Nilsson, and his wife Kristina, from 1853 to 1860. In 1853 Karl Oskar is surprised to find something new in the woods around his homestead - a neighbor. The mass migration of Swedes has begun, and soon there is a community, with a schoolhouse and a church. Karl Oskar's younger brother Robert returns from the California gold rush, seemingly broken in health and spirit, and reluctant to say what happened to him. It is a bittersweet time of change, a time of gaining and a time of losing.

This book is the third in the Emigrants quadrilogy, and continues to demonstrate the same excellence shown by the others. Vilhelm Moberg was a great writer, and these books are amongst the best that I have ever read. The characters are powerfully written, seeming quite real; this was one of the authors many strengths. This is a wonderful introduction to the settler experience, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

[For those of you with young children, I would like to recommend the Kirsten books in the American Girls series. Written for young readers (primarily girls), it tells the story of a Swedish family that immigrates to Minnesota in 1854.]