Paul Daily Globe described it as ".a squatter settlement. Furnishings consisted of a sofa bed, potbellied stove, plain woode Swede Hollow was a "shantytown immigrant community" from the 1850's to the 1950's. pleasing disorder weather-beaten shanties.rooftop next to rooftop.with the dilapidated houses wedged into whatever space could be found.every once in a while there's an empty house." Inga's cottage had a view of the lower part of the Hollow. Swede Hollow was a "shantytown immigrant community" from the 1850's to the 1950's. This haunting story of a real place echoes the larger challenges of immigration in the twentieth century and today.more There are hardships, indignities, accidents, and harrowing encounters, but also acts of loyalty and kindness and moments of joy. Outsiders malign Swede Hollow as unsanitary and rife with disease, but the Klar family and their neighbors persevere in this neglected corner of the city-and consider it home.Įxtensively researched and beautifully written, Ola Larsmo’s award-winning novel vividly portrays a family and a community determined to survive. The men hire on as poorly paid day laborers for the Great Northern or Northern Pacific railroads or work at the nearby brewery, and the women clean houses, work at laundries, or sew clothing in stifling factories. The Irish, Italian, and Swedish immigrants who live here are a hardscrabble lot usually absent from the familiar stories of Swedish American history. Their new home is a cluster of rough-hewn shacks in a deep, wooded ravine on the edge of St. An unexpected gift allows the Klars to make one more desperate move, this time to the Midwest and a place called Swede Hollow. But their dream of starting over is nearly crushed at the outset: a fire devastates Ellis Island just as they arrive, and then the relentlessly harsh conditions and lack of work in the city make it impossible for Gustaf to support his family. When Gustaf and Anna Klar and their three children leave Sweden for New York in 1897, they take with them a terrible secret and a longing for a new life. But their dream of starting over is nearly crushed at the outset: a fire devastates Ellis Island A riveting family saga immersed in the gritty, dark side of Swedish immigrant life in America in the early twentieth century A riveting family saga immersed in the gritty, dark side of Swedish immigrant life in America in the early twentieth century When Gustaf and Anna Klar and their three children leave Sweden for New York in 1897, they take with them a terrible secret and a longing for a new life.
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