Customer Reviews

Settlers: The Emigrant Novels Book 3

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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!

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.

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.]

I'M NOT A READER BUT SO FAR HAVE READ THE FIRST THREE BOOKS OF THIS SERIES AND AM WAITING ANXIOUSLY TO GET THE FOURTH AND LAST. COULD NOT PUT EACH BOOK DOWN AND READ EACH WITHIN A COUPLE DAYS. HAVE ORDERED EACH ONE USED THROUGH AMAZON AND EACH ONE HAS BEEN IN EXCELLENT CONDITION - YOU CAN'T TELL THEY'RE USED AT ALL. GOT FAST SHIPPING ON ALL OF THEM. MY GRANDMOTHER EMIGRATED FROM SWEDEN, AND THIS SERIES HAS DEFINITELY GIVEN ME INSIGHT ON ALL THE EARLY SWEDISH IMMIGRANTS. MOBERG WAS AN ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC WRITER!

I purchaces this series of books several years ago. If you are of Swedish descent then these folks coming to America in mid 1800's is worth the read. Enjoy

I have recently read all of the books in the series of four and must say they are some of the best books I have ever read. If you are an American, from any heritage, these stories give a clear and honestly presented view of what our ancesters gave up and endured in order to give us a better life as Americans. I highly recommend this collection!

Life goes on for the emigrants turned immigrants turned settlers. Midway through the third book, we find out about Robert and Arvid. They never reached California. Arvid died from drinking poisoned water after getting lost on the trail. Robert ended up in Nebraska with another Swede who came over on The Charlotta.

After four years, Robert returns to Karl Oskar's and Kristina's farm. He has Arvid's watch and a large sum of money which he gives to his brother. Karl Oskar is suspicious. Did he find gold? Where is Arvid? Robert has changed. His health is gone, and he is disillusioned. He sees the folly of gold fever.

As it happened, Robert was swindled. The Swede from the ship traded him wildcat money for gold given to him by a dying Mexican. When Karl Oskar finds the bills are worthless, he hits his brother in the face. Broken, Robert wanders into the forest and dies, free at last. The pessimism of this episode is disturbing. We feel the tenuous nature of life and the ease with which men can be led astray.

The Settlers goes through 1860. Minnesota attains statehood. The book ends with Kristina resigning herself to life in America, just as her brother-in-law yielded to his inescapable fate.

Whether one is of Swedish extraction or not, if your ancestors came to America during the period of great migration from Europe, Moberg presents a wonderful picture of what it must have been like in "the old country" and the decision to start a new life in a new land. This is the third part of a four-part series. One would not get the full flavor of the book without reading the others in the series, but having the whole collection is a good plan, since it is a tale worth reading over and again.