If spring and its warm weather got here too early for you, you might want to read a classic - O.E. Rolvaag's Giants in the Earth. For me, Rolvaag is a master at describing the untouched American prairie, including its extreme isolation and harsh climate, especially winter, prior to its settlement. With Giants, you get plenty of blizzards, and plenty of loneliness as you read about Norwegian settlers in the Dakota Territory of the 1870s.
Giants follows the family of Per Hansa and his wife Beret, along with three other Norwegian families as they break ground in a new land. Rolvaag takes you on their journey as they find their land, turn over the sod and set up their homes; doing what was needed to survive their first winter in the Dakotas.
The settlers' story continues on onto the 1880s as Native Americans, locusts, drought, storms, blizzards, isolation, mental illness and faith all present challenges to the small community as it grows.
If you ever wondered about the hardships faced by those who settled the Midwest, Rolvaag does a masterful job of painting the picture. Both the defeats and the successes are covered as these families make their way in unchartered territory. Published in 1927, Giants in the Earth is not very far removed from the time in our history that it covers. Rolvaag himself emigrated to South Dakota in 1896.
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