The Emigrants

The Emigrants is a family saga of Norwegian farmers who settle in North Dakota in the late 1800s. The author paints a loving portrait of a large cast of characters, all different but hoping to make a better life in America. Their early years are hard, living in sod huts and breaking their fields with teams of oxen. They are torn between their homesickness for Norway and their love for the traditions of their homeland, and their growing appreciation that they and their children have become Americans. The novel is a companion to O. E. Rolvaag’s Giants in the Earth, which focused on the settlers as immigrants to America; Bojer’s interest is with the same Norwegian pioneers as emigrants from Norway. - Summary by Tom Shoesmith