On Flashback Fridays I will share with you
the books I was not able to review
when they were first released that have been screaming at me
from my To-Be-Read bookshelf.
While reorganizing my PaperBackSwap bookshelf I came across this little book and a few others I had entirely forgotten about. This book landed on the top of my Flashback Friday stack because it is set in North Dakota. A state I needed for my Literary Escapes Challenge. While reading it, the characters seemed familiar. When I went to add it to my GoodReads account I realized I had read it before in 2012. I found the rest of the series too. So I have North Dakota covered for my challenge for a few more years, if I can wait that long to read the rest.
Dakota Dawn: The Dakota Plains Series
1st in Series
Historical Christian Fiction
Setting – North Dakota
Barbour Publishing, Inc (March 1994)
Mass Market Paperback: 186 pages
ISBN-10: 1557484007
ISBN-13: 978-1557484000
Mission Books; Reissue edition (September 1, 2012)
ISBN-10: 1618431781
ISBN-13: 978-1618431783
”Soldahl! Next stop, Soldahl!”
When Nora Johanson heard the conductor’s words, her heart began to race. At last she would be in the arms of the man she had promised to marry – Hans Larson. At fifteen she was so sure of their love. Now, three years later and far from the mountains and fjords of her beloved homeland, Norway, she wondered. . . .
She stepped off the train, found her trunk full of quilts, hand-embroidered linens, and household treasures painted with rosemaling designs, and looked anxiously for Hans. The pelting March snow stung her cheeks.”Where is he? Dear God, what will I do?” When Hans failed to arrive at the train station that night, Nora found herself thrown into a life she never expected– Reverend and Mrs. Moen and Carl Detschman, a grieving German immigrant. Was this really what God had planned for her?
Dakota Dawn is the first book of the Dakota Series that features the intertwining lives of five inspiring women, all who live in the early 1900s in the farming community of Soldahl, North Dakota.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
This was a nice escape from the mysteries I usually read.
Nora Johanson has had quite a journey, Norway to Soldahl, North Dakota. She is excited to start her new life in America with Hans Larson. She had pledged to marry him just before he left Norway 3 years ago when she was just 15. After a trip by ship and train, she arrives in Soldahl to find Hans had died just a few days earlier. Worried about where she will live or how she will get back home, Nora turns to God to light her path. The Reverend and Mrs. Moen take Nora into their home and an opportunity presents itself, but is it really what God wants her to do?
I have read other books by this author several years ago and knew I would enjoy this story before I even started reading. She is very talented at bringing this time in North Dakota to life. Her words created full-color images in mind. We get to know Nora and the Moen’s pretty well. It was heartbreaking to read about Carl Detschman’s grief, the death of a loved one can overtake anyone whether it be in 1910 or 2018. Lauraine Snelling captures his life and all he meets perfectly.
I am excited this is part of a series. I look forward to reading the next 3 books.
About the Author
Unfortunately, my copy is not in giveaway condition and
this book is only available used or as a very pricey paperback at Amazon.
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Winner will be chosen October 5 and notified by email.
*This book was from my private collection.