Blessing in Disguise

Although I am not a big fan of the cover of this book, I am a big fan of the story-line. What can go wrong when a young Norwegian immigrant heads off to join her family in Blessing, North Dakota (and she speaks no English)? Augusta sets out, gets on the wrong train and ends up in another small town miles away, being greeted at the railway station by a very nice rancher, Kane Moyer. Kane thinks she is the mail order bride he has written to, and Augusta thinks he is the gentleman taking her to her family. It is quite the story of how two people try to communicate with each other, not knowing each others language. Kane was such a good man and took such good care of this lady. When she is finally found by her family and taken home, Augusta show more will realize that she left her heart with Kane. Another very good story in this very good series, with more series that follow this one about the Bjorklund family. show less

This six book historical fiction series (and its prequel) is the story of a Norwegian family who emigrates to America in the late 1800s to homestead in the Dakota Territory. Think Little House on the Prairie, but for adults. Definitely written for adult women, as it deals with marriage and childbirth issues in a realistic, yet appropriate way. The author has more 3- and 4- book series following the lives of the children of this family as they grow up. Their Christian faith is mentioned lightly in the first 3 books, and more centrally and more in depth in the later books. These books remind me a bit of Janette Oke's Love Comes Softly Series. If you liked those, you might like these. One other quibble: in the third and fourth books, the show more author has the annoying habit of ending a chapter of ending on a cliff-hanger, and then the next chapter switches to a totally different scene and set of characters. The cliff-hanger isn't resolved until several chapters later when I've almost forgotten about it. Also, a glossary and pronunciation guide would have been helpful for all the Norwegian words and names. And a list of characters and their relationships would have been good, because there are a lot of duplicate names on the different branches of the family and it gets kind of confusing. show less

I had read this before, & really enjoyed the story of confusion & God's leading.

The Prologue is a letter from Oslo, Norway dated July 3, 1889 from Asta Borsland to Mr. Moyer. She thanks him for the tickets to his ranch, & informs him that she will be changing her arrival time from September 1 to October 1, so he will not have to meet the train on September 1, 1889.

The story starts in Blessing, North Dakota on July 3, 1889. Bridget Bjorklund was not looking forward to repeating the same things again tomorrow. When her son, Hjelmer, questioned her about sitting down, she changed the subject of the conversation to having coffee. The heat was another topic of conversation. When he asked how the new girl was working out, she offered him a show more cookie. Everyone thought she was too old to run a boardinghouse, but she only was doing the same things she did in any home she lived in! The coffee was almost ready, & she thought about the cookies she should be bagging. Hjelmer insisted that she write to Augusta, her oldest daughter, so she wrote the letter in Norwegian, since Augusta hadn't learned English yet. She offered to hire both Augusta & Elmer, her intended, if they were willing to move to Amerika. When Hjelmer asked what was wrong with her face, she admitted she had a toothache. After Hjelmer left she put a whole clove on the aching tooth. show less

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