A Review of ” The Promise of Dawn” by Lauraine Snelling
“Under Northern Skies” Series–Book 1
This is a story of a family’s journey in 1909 from Norway to America.
This is a dream come true for Rune Carlson and his three sons, but not so much for his wife, Signe who is pregnant.
After many months of difficult traveling the family finally comes to settle in a small town in
Minnesota where Rune’s uncle and wife live. Their excitement of arriving in “Amerika” as they call it is quickly diminished when they meet their trip benefactor, Einar Strand and his wife, Gerd.
Will they be able to fulfill the agreement made with hard, demanding Einar or will they have to return to Norway? This is a question both Rune and Signe have in their minds daily as they struggle to live out this new life in America, the land of opportunity and abundance, or so they thought when they left Norway.
You will experience their pain, anguish, anger, and fear as you read page after page of this family’s daily life and you will come to know them as friends. You will cry with them and laugh with them and you will pray with them too, as they trust in God for help and guidance against all the human odds they face.
This is a compelling story. One you will not want to stop reading, yet one that pulls you forward to the finish, and it will keep you waiting on pins and needles to see what happens in Book 2 of this series.
(For those of you who are familiar with Lauraine Snelling’s books , Rune Carlson in this series is the son of Gunlaug, cousin to Ingeborg Bjorklund, of “The Red River of the North” series that was set in North Dakota. )
–Leona J. Atkinson