Aagot Raaen

I saw this reviewed by someone on LT, and thought it would be interesting to read the story of Norwegian immigrants, told by a woman. My mother's side of the family came from Norway, albeit in the 1920s and to Chicago and city life. [Grass of the Earth] is about an earlier group of Norwegian immigrants in the mid to late 1800s who end up in North Dakota, farming the newly available land.

This is a simply written book, mostly told from the point of view of a younger daughter in the family. The author is the older sister. The family - father, mother, brother, and three sisters, one of whom is an invalid - has a small farm. They work incredibly hard every day with very little to show for it. The father also is an alcoholic who often spends the money they are able to save in the saloons of the nearest town, disappearing for months at a time. This lack of money leads to them taking out a mortgage on their farm and struggling most of their lives to figure out how to pay it off. The father does overcome his addiction after about a decade, and the family fortunes begin to make a small turn for the better.

The book focuses on the day to day grind of small farm life. Hunger, lack of clothing, extreme temperatures, etc. But the siblings strive to better themselves through any education opportunities they can find. They value hard work and independence to an extreme, and deny themselves most pleasures. They rely on the Bible for wisdom.They are friendly with neighbors, and though they help others freely, they are reluctant to accept help themselves. I found it interesting that there was no mention of the Native people that were likely living in the Dakotas when these immigrants arrived and started taking over the land.

Raaen attended school whenever she could afford it and be absent from the farm. When she was 30, she managed to graduate from a pre-college school, I imagine kind of like a high school. In 1913, she graduated from the University of Minnesota. She taught and was a school administrator for the rest of her life. She wrote this book near the end of her life.

Though this book is simply written and has some inconsistencies in point of view, it is a really interesting look at one family's immigrant experience. I'm glad I read it. Made me feel quite spoiled with my relatively easy lifestyle.… (altro)