Giants in the Earth

A founding tale of the American heartland, Giants in the Earth tells the story of three families of Norwegian pioneers who make their way in covered wagons to the Dakota Territory in 1873. Per Hansa, his wife Beret, and their fellow settlers struggle to plant their first crops, care for each other during the harsh winters, cut tunnels through the snow to keep the cows fed, endure plagues of locusts and crop failures, and gradually coax a living from the vast prairie. Per Hansa is doggedly optimistic and dreams of endless progress; Beret is overwhelmed by her terror of the endless open spaces. Their experience reveals the human cost paid by the immigrants who opened the American West. The novel is the first in a trilogy and is based on the author’s own experiences as a settler as well as the those of his wife's family, who had been immigrant homesteaders on the American prairie. (Summary by tshoes76)