With a somewhat predictable guy-of-noble-birth falls in love
with peasant-girl storyline, nonetheless, Jody Hedlund creates strong
characters and a story full of rich historical details. Annalisa is strong,
dependable. Carl is downright charming, gentle. Their playful banter is
well-written, especially the scenes when Gretchen [Annalisa’s daughter] joins the conversation. Though they did not have healthy marriages
modeled by their parents, Carl and Annalisa were able to build a relationship of their own built on admiration, kindness, respect.
The research in regards to the setting, Michigan 1880s, is
thorough and intriguing. The author masterfully illustrates the reality of
German immigrant’s lives. Life was a daily fight to stay alive, to feed one’s
family, to stay ahead of the bank loans, the fires, the drought, illness and so
many other challenging factors of living on a land which seems, at
times, stronger than those who inhabit it.
Again and again, thru reading historical fiction, I am
reminded of the vast inequality which has been, and still remains, part of
humanity. The wealthy flourish, often without regard for those who have less,
and the poor struggle to survive. Yet, even amidst this disparity, it is sometimes
those with less who have MORE of what really matters. Annalisa, though barely
able to feed herself, and in turn her unborn child, loved her children
desperately. She believed in dreams, in the possibility of a better life. She
valued her children as her most prized possession, fighting for them above all
else. While Annalisa was not valued as a women [in reference to her
relationship with her husband & her father], I admire how Hedlund created
her character to still believe that she had worth beyond the farmland and her
ability to bear children. And I like that Carl treated her with respect, right
from the start, that he recognized her ability to rise above dreadful
circumstances.
The story was good, somewhat predictable but with enough
subplots to keep the reader wondering exactly how things would all come
together. For me, the ending was too abrupt, leaving unanswered questions about
certain characters. It wrapped up ‘a little too prettily’ in contrast to the
struggle illustrated throughout the remainder of the book.
I was given this book from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for my honest review.
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AN END...On April 9, 2013 we withdrew from our agency's Ethiopia adoption program and signed the required paperwork this past week. So, our international adoption journey to child #2 [which began on June 23, 2009] has officially ended.
I have a penciled outline of his first mother's hand from the day we met [December 7, 2008] in a small room in southern Ethiopia. I think of this hand print often. I remember it was her hands that first held our son. It was her hands that caressed his cheeks as she sang him a lullaby. It was her hands that held him as she introduced him to her family...his family, too. Her hands that gently rocked him. Her hands that first wiped away his tears. And, it was her hands that placed the 3-month old little boy she loved into the hands of an orphanage worker.