My dear Beth, Though Uppsala, Iowa, takes its name from a city in my native Sweden, life here is different from what I have known. With my parents' blessing, I have taken employment in the home of Mr. Bridger, a dairy farmer, caring for his ill mother and two young, orphaned nieces. It is most unlike me to leave home, even in a temporary manner. But the need is great and Hattie Bridger and the children are so endearing. As for Dirk Bridger, he is...

Life in Sweden seems like an endless winter for three sisters after their mother's and father's suicides. Ellin writes to her relatives in Chicago, pleading for help. Joining 16 million other immigrants who leave their homelands for America between 1890 and 1920, Ellin, Kirsten, and Sophia begin the long, difficult journey fraught with hardships.