For the fifth book of the History & Heritage Book Club, we will be reading Giants in the Earth – A Saga of the Prairie by O.E. Rölvaag.
Based in part on Ole Edvart Rølvaag’s own recollections as well of those of his wife’s family who were immigrant homesteaders, Giants in the Earth is the riveting story of a Norwegian family forging a new life amid the harsh, desolate climate of the Dakota Territory. Rølvaag recounts the hardships they endured on the high prairie—blizzards, locust storms, poverty, hunger, loneliness, homesickness, and culture shock—as well as their simple joys, culminating in a magnificent epic that bridges Norwegian culture and the history of the American dream.
"A moving narrative of pioneer hardship and heroism. . . . The background of the boundless Dakota prairie, with its mysterious distances and its capacity for evil, is painted with alternating beauty and grimness." —The Atlantic
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Gammelgården Museum is launching a new program in 2025, History & Heritage Book Club!
From May through December 2025, we will be exploring 8 books related to Nordic history and heritage; and Swedish lifestyles and traditions. There are both fiction and non-fiction books; and authors from the United States and Sweden.
Join others book lovers every first Friday of the month from 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM. (Note: July’s book club meeting will be held on the second Friday of July due to the 4th of July holiday.)
The History & Heritage Book Club will be held at Gammelgården Museum at 20880 Olinda Trail North, Scandia, MN 55073. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with others in the community who love to read and want to discover some great books!
2025 Book List:
May – Swede Hollow by Ola Larsmo - *F
June – The Open-Air Life by Linda Åkeson McGurk - *N
July – The Lagom Life – A Swedish Way of Living by Elisabeth Carlsson - *N
August – The Sisterhood of the Enchanted Forest by Naomi Moriyama and William Doyle - N
September – Giants in the Earth – A Saga of the Prairie by O.E. Rölvaag - F
October – My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman - *F
November - The Rocks Will Echo Our Sorrow – The Forced Displacement of the Northern Sámi by Elin Anna Labba - *N
December – The Palace of the Snow Queen – Winter Travels in Lapland and Sápmi by Barbara Sjoholm - N
* - Swedish, Sámi, or Swedish-American author
F – Fiction
N – Non-Fiction
Email:
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Phone: (651) 433-5053
Facebook Group: History & Heritage Book Club
You may also like the following events from Gammelgården Museum of Scandia:
Also check out other
Meetups in Scandia,
Arts events in Scandia,
Literary Art events in Scandia.
