The Promise of Dawn by Lauraine Snelling

The Promise of Dawn by Lauraine Snelling is the beginning of this authors new series, Under Northern Skies.  This is the story of Rune and Signe Carlson's immigration to America.  Rune's uncle, Einar sent a letter offering land and passage to Minnesota in exchange for working for him lumbering in the forest he owned and caring for his ailing wife.  Signe who is pregnant with their forth child does not want to go.  She loves living among their families even though they are so poor that they mostly eat porridge every day. Rune sees America as an opportunity that he would never get if they stayed in Norway and accepts the offer to move his family which included 3 sons to Minnesota.  The trip over the ocean was much harder than any of them but then when they get to the farm they find it in much worse condition that they expected and the work much harder than they expected.  The boys, Bjorn, Knute, and Leif, were all school aged but Einar expected them to all work like men.  Einar was a hard man never asked always demanded and always, always was stern.  Gern his wife was always screaming to Signe for something that she wanted and was also demanding in her own way but since she had gotten so weak and sick with her heart was unable to  be as demanding as Einar.  Signe stood her ground however when Einar said that the boys would not be able to go to school and so the 2 younger boys went to school when September came leaving only Bjorn to work in the forest with his dad and Einar.  Bjorn had a love of timbering and was glad not to go to school and oddly enough even Einar was more pleasant in the woods.  Signe on the other hand was in the house with Gern.  Signe had decided that she would make Gern well and started demanding that she move and get out of bed and at least sit in a chair.  Gern slowly but surely became stronger and as she regained her health she also became more nice and less demanding.  All were learning English, the boys were learning in school, and things continued to look up until the horrible accident with Bjorn.  How would they continue?  Well partly by Signe and Rune standing up to Einar and Signe figuring out just how much they owed Einar and realizing that they had already paid him back with all their hard work.  Read this book to find how this God loving family meshed with their hard unfeeling relatives and become one family.

I loved this book though I am not nearing as patient as Rune and Signe were with their relatives.  I believe most any older girl or woman would enjoy reading this delightful book on their coming to America.  There is little violence in this story and what there is would have been considered strict discipline in those days. There is no sexual content.  Any child who wished could read the book if they had the ability.   I received this book from BethanyHouse for this review.