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Spring Came On Forever
Acclaimed for her 1928 novel A Lantern in Her Hand , Bess Streeter Aldrich became one of the most widely read interpreters of the prairie pioneer experience. In 1935, she published her masterpiece, Spring Came on Forever , a novel of two Nebraska pioneer families from settlement to the 1930s. Elsewhere an artist of the romance, here Aldrich turns romance on its head.
The heroine is Amalia Holmsdorfer, one of a band of German immigrants who settle on the prairie. From her late teens to her mid-eighties she confronts and defeats the forces of nature and society that discourage or ruin others. Her life might be a modest triumph but for one she married the wrong man.
Quickly paced and precisely drawn, this novel is Aldrich's greatest tribute to the complexity, humor, endurance, and intelligence of the people who settled the prairie. Whatever its sentiments, it has as many cutting edges as a buzz saw.
The heroine is Amalia Holmsdorfer, one of a band of German immigrants who settle on the prairie. From her late teens to her mid-eighties she confronts and defeats the forces of nature and society that discourage or ruin others. Her life might be a modest triumph but for one she married the wrong man.
Quickly paced and precisely drawn, this novel is Aldrich's greatest tribute to the complexity, humor, endurance, and intelligence of the people who settled the prairie. Whatever its sentiments, it has as many cutting edges as a buzz saw.
333 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1935
25 people are currently reading
541 people want to read
About the author
Bess Streeter Aldrich
38 books144 followersBess Genevra Streeter Aldrich was one of Nebraska's most widely read and enjoyed authors. Her writing career spanned forty-some years, during which she published over 100 short stories and articles, nine novels, one novella, two books of short stories, and one omnibus. In her work, she emphasized family values and recorded accurately Midwest pioneering history.
One of her books, Miss Bishop, was made into the movie, Cheers for Miss Bishop, and her short story, The Silent Stars Go By became the television show, The Gift of Love.
Bess graduated in 1901 from Iowa State Normal School, now known as the University of Northern Iowa, and taught for four years. She returned to Cedar Falls and worked as Assistant Supervisor at her alma mater, receiving an advanced degree in 1906. She married Charles Sweetzer Aldrich the following year.
In 1909 the Aldriches and Bess's sister and brother-in-law, Clara and John Cobb, bought the American Exchange Bank in Elmwood, Nebraska, and moved there with the Aldrich's two-month old daughter, Bess's widowed mother, and the Cobbs. Elmwood would become the locale, by whatever name she called it, of her many short stories, and it would also be the setting for some of her books.
Aldrich had won her first writing prize at fourteen and another at seventeen, having been writing stories since childhood. However, for two years after the family moved to Elmwood, Aldrich was too busy with local activities to write. Then in 1911 she saw a fiction contest announcement in the Ladies Home Journal and wrote a story in a few afternoons while the baby napped. Her story was one of six chosen from among some 2,000 entries. From that time on, Aldrich wrote whenever she could find a moment between caring for her growing family and her household chores. Indeed, she commented that, in the early days, many a story was liberally sprinkled with dishwater as she jotted down words or ideas while she worked. Aldrich's first book, Mother Mason, a compilation of short stories, was published in 1924.
In May 1925, shortly before her second book, Rim of the Prairie was published, Charles Aldrich died of a cerebral hemorrhage, leaving Bess a widow with four children ranging from four to sixteen. Her writing now became the means of family support; with her pen she put all the children through college.
Aldrich's short stories were as eagerly sought and read as her novels, and she became one of the best paid magazine writers of the time. Her work appeared in such magazines as The American, Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal, Collier's, Cosmopolitan, and McCall's. Aldrich also wrote several pieces on the art of writing, and these were published in The Writer.
In 1934, Aldrich was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Nebraska, and in 1949 she received the Iowa Authors Outstanding Contributions to Literature Award. She was posthumously inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame in 1973.
One of her books, Miss Bishop, was made into the movie, Cheers for Miss Bishop, and her short story, The Silent Stars Go By became the television show, The Gift of Love.
Bess graduated in 1901 from Iowa State Normal School, now known as the University of Northern Iowa, and taught for four years. She returned to Cedar Falls and worked as Assistant Supervisor at her alma mater, receiving an advanced degree in 1906. She married Charles Sweetzer Aldrich the following year.
In 1909 the Aldriches and Bess's sister and brother-in-law, Clara and John Cobb, bought the American Exchange Bank in Elmwood, Nebraska, and moved there with the Aldrich's two-month old daughter, Bess's widowed mother, and the Cobbs. Elmwood would become the locale, by whatever name she called it, of her many short stories, and it would also be the setting for some of her books.
Aldrich had won her first writing prize at fourteen and another at seventeen, having been writing stories since childhood. However, for two years after the family moved to Elmwood, Aldrich was too busy with local activities to write. Then in 1911 she saw a fiction contest announcement in the Ladies Home Journal and wrote a story in a few afternoons while the baby napped. Her story was one of six chosen from among some 2,000 entries. From that time on, Aldrich wrote whenever she could find a moment between caring for her growing family and her household chores. Indeed, she commented that, in the early days, many a story was liberally sprinkled with dishwater as she jotted down words or ideas while she worked. Aldrich's first book, Mother Mason, a compilation of short stories, was published in 1924.
In May 1925, shortly before her second book, Rim of the Prairie was published, Charles Aldrich died of a cerebral hemorrhage, leaving Bess a widow with four children ranging from four to sixteen. Her writing now became the means of family support; with her pen she put all the children through college.
Aldrich's short stories were as eagerly sought and read as her novels, and she became one of the best paid magazine writers of the time. Her work appeared in such magazines as The American, Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal, Collier's, Cosmopolitan, and McCall's. Aldrich also wrote several pieces on the art of writing, and these were published in The Writer.
In 1934, Aldrich was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Nebraska, and in 1949 she received the Iowa Authors Outstanding Contributions to Literature Award. She was posthumously inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame in 1973.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
March 8, 2022
Bess Streeter Aldrich writes of the Nebraska prairie and pioneers so well, and this was a fine example of that. The story lines of Amalia Stoltz Holmsdorfer and Matthias Meier were part of that rich experience, although this was not one of my favorite books of BSA. I liked the incorporation of many historical and political points of that era. She wrote of the deadly Easter Blizzard of 1873, the Children's Blizzard of 1888, and the devastating Republican River flood of 1935 and how dramatically these affected both the Holmsdorfer and Meier families.
March 25, 2022
I love historical fiction - the bits and pieces of our history brought to life in story. Bess Streeter Aldrich was a new-to-me author, although she lived some years back and her books are considered classics, especially of the prairie pioneer experience.
Matthias and Amalia fall in love in an Illinois springtime. Matthias works in his father's foundry and Amalia is just getting ready to move west with her widowed father and their Moravian community to take up new land in Nebraska. She is promised to a farmer who is already in Nebraska, making preparations for the new families to join him. But young love - it is so strong! Matthias tells Amalia he will come for her, and Amalia promises to wait for him, but the weather has other ideas. By the time the rains end and the floodwaters subside, Amalia and her family have already headed west. Matthias figures that a riverboat will take him to Nebraska City faster than the wagon train can travel, and he can meet her and sweep her away from her intended. But the river has other ideas - sand bars, shifting sand in the river that catches the steamboat and holds it fast for days at a time. When he reaches Nebraska City, Amalia is already married and headed for her farm home in the west.
This book follows Amalia and Matthias along their separate paths, so near and yet so far apart, across the panorama of Nebraska history, through hard times and good, droughts, blizzards, grasshopper plagues, two world wars, illness, birth, and death. In the end, their stories once again entwine through the lives of their great-grandchildren. "Quickly paced and precisely drawn, this novel is a tribute to the complexity, humor, endurance, and intelligence of the people who settled the prairie."
I am going to look for other novels by Aldrich, especially A Lantern In Her Hand.
Matthias and Amalia fall in love in an Illinois springtime. Matthias works in his father's foundry and Amalia is just getting ready to move west with her widowed father and their Moravian community to take up new land in Nebraska. She is promised to a farmer who is already in Nebraska, making preparations for the new families to join him. But young love - it is so strong! Matthias tells Amalia he will come for her, and Amalia promises to wait for him, but the weather has other ideas. By the time the rains end and the floodwaters subside, Amalia and her family have already headed west. Matthias figures that a riverboat will take him to Nebraska City faster than the wagon train can travel, and he can meet her and sweep her away from her intended. But the river has other ideas - sand bars, shifting sand in the river that catches the steamboat and holds it fast for days at a time. When he reaches Nebraska City, Amalia is already married and headed for her farm home in the west.
This book follows Amalia and Matthias along their separate paths, so near and yet so far apart, across the panorama of Nebraska history, through hard times and good, droughts, blizzards, grasshopper plagues, two world wars, illness, birth, and death. In the end, their stories once again entwine through the lives of their great-grandchildren. "Quickly paced and precisely drawn, this novel is a tribute to the complexity, humor, endurance, and intelligence of the people who settled the prairie."
I am going to look for other novels by Aldrich, especially A Lantern In Her Hand.
May 30, 2025
The vibes were heinous – normalized human trafficking! racism! patriarchy! sappiness! oh, my! – but at least the scenery was pretty. And it was sufficiently fast-paced that I was able to finish the majority of it in a day.
| 1.5 stars |
February 13, 2021
Nobody captures the scope of real life like Bess Streeter Aldrich. Wow. 4.5/5
February 13, 2015
After reading A Lantern In Her Hand and absolutely adoring it, I was all afire to read more of Bess Streeter Aldrich's books. I loved the sound of this title (and it's about the Nebraska prairie, duh), and I was so excited to finally find it at a library!
Bess Streeter Aldrich's books are good, solid, hearty, old-fashioned literature. Since ALIHH was so amazing, I fully expected all her other books to be just as wonderful. Spring Came On Forever was a good book, no doubt, but it didn't touch me so deeply as ALIHH. In many ways the books are very similar; centered around one family (or in this case, two) who grow up and marry and grow up and marry, all while the state of Nebraska is growing as well. I like that premise, because I love long sagas about families, but because of it the writing seemed kind of impersonal sometimes due to the fact that the story is being told on a grand scale, and so you miss lots of the individual characters' thoughts and doings. I personally like more detail in that department, but that's just a preference.
I liked the beginning of this book, I loved the last half, but in the middle of that I found it a teeny bit boring. There weren't so many shivery-tingly one-liners like in A Lantern In Her Hand, but still pretty often you come across a line you have to read over about three times, because it's so profound or moving. I liked the characters a lot. I especially LOVED Hazel and Neal. In fact, I would probably rather read a whole book about just them. I was a little sorry they had to come last, because I felt like their story was kind of cut short because of it.
Overall, it's a very good book and I liked it a lot. I wouldn't recommend it as readily as A Lantern In Her Hand, which is one of my favorite novels ever (obviously, I named my blog after it :-)), but if you're a fan of Bess Streeter Aldrich or novels about the American frontier I'd say it's definitely worth it.
My rating: 8 1/2 out of ten
Bess Streeter Aldrich's books are good, solid, hearty, old-fashioned literature. Since ALIHH was so amazing, I fully expected all her other books to be just as wonderful. Spring Came On Forever was a good book, no doubt, but it didn't touch me so deeply as ALIHH. In many ways the books are very similar; centered around one family (or in this case, two) who grow up and marry and grow up and marry, all while the state of Nebraska is growing as well. I like that premise, because I love long sagas about families, but because of it the writing seemed kind of impersonal sometimes due to the fact that the story is being told on a grand scale, and so you miss lots of the individual characters' thoughts and doings. I personally like more detail in that department, but that's just a preference.
I liked the beginning of this book, I loved the last half, but in the middle of that I found it a teeny bit boring. There weren't so many shivery-tingly one-liners like in A Lantern In Her Hand, but still pretty often you come across a line you have to read over about three times, because it's so profound or moving. I liked the characters a lot. I especially LOVED Hazel and Neal. In fact, I would probably rather read a whole book about just them. I was a little sorry they had to come last, because I felt like their story was kind of cut short because of it.
Overall, it's a very good book and I liked it a lot. I wouldn't recommend it as readily as A Lantern In Her Hand, which is one of my favorite novels ever (obviously, I named my blog after it :-)), but if you're a fan of Bess Streeter Aldrich or novels about the American frontier I'd say it's definitely worth it.
My rating: 8 1/2 out of ten
March 3, 2013
My late grandmother gave me this book when I was in high school with a brief note about her own grandparents who settled on the prairie. It is one of my most treasured books.
September 21, 2021
A beautiful book! This was my book club's Nebraska author and I'm glad we picked this book. It was a fast read, and it takes all but the last three pages to find out if the family ever pieces together the love mystery within the family. The trials and tribulations that take place throughout the book are real and tragic. I was also mesmerized by how much life changed and evolved within the three generations, and it was still only the 1930s. It made me stop and reflect on how much more has changed since then. From the inner-church & German family marriages to moving to town to leaving the farm to today, where we now live all around the world in houses that none of us need. This book made be reflect on simpler times, probably not easier but definitely simpler. Every Nebraskan should read this.
October 11, 2016
This story is so beautiful. I think I would describe it as the American version of Wuthering Heights, but without the hate and revenge. I thought Bess Streeter Aldrich did a great job showing the different kinds of marriages that a person can find themselves in. Amalia finds herself in a forced marriage to a verbally abusive man. Matthias finds himself in a comfortable marriage with a good friend. Emil's marriage is not detailed, but appears happy. Joey marries the wrong person, but sticks with it. And Neal marries the love of his life - and they know they are meant for each other as they went through a time wondering if they would see each other again. This story also shows culture and generation clashes, something we can all learn from. Love, Love, LOVE this author!
October 13, 2015
This isn't a novel of my choice, but one assigned from my History class. It is quite funny how a sparked love come together when fate took them apart in the beginning. I craved for the reuniting of young Amalia and Mathias, but fate intervened. Quite interesting I might say...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 26, 2010
It was really kind of sad...They should have married.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 26, 2015
I just skimmed this book in an hour to get the gist of an unrequited love affair that finally bore fruit in the marriage of descendants.
October 31, 2013
Interesting that two books have made their way into my life lately dealing with homesteading, hardships, importance of nature and that community and family is the keystone for our lives. So many similarites between Hannah Coulter and Spring Came On Forever. Of the two, Hannah is the finer novel. One shows and the other tells the story of strong-willed farmers and especially the women that were the heart of these homes and families.
Tonight I am contemplating the importance of ancestors. We each have a legacy of the people who have shaped our lives whether living or dead, whether recently or in past generations. We perhaps owe it to our families to record our own stories.
In both novels, nature is a formidable character. In Spring it reads: (Matthias)...then rode into the prairie wind, which was rising again, facing its rough onslaught, his strong young shoulders meeting its buffeting much as a swimmer breasts the current. But its very robustness gave him a feeling of exuberance, that he could meet the obstacles which would confront him in the new town in the same way that he met the wild strength of the prairie."
Oh, that we could each have this same optimism as we face the "obstacles of life".
Good read. Not a favorite, but good.
Tonight I am contemplating the importance of ancestors. We each have a legacy of the people who have shaped our lives whether living or dead, whether recently or in past generations. We perhaps owe it to our families to record our own stories.
In both novels, nature is a formidable character. In Spring it reads: (Matthias)...then rode into the prairie wind, which was rising again, facing its rough onslaught, his strong young shoulders meeting its buffeting much as a swimmer breasts the current. But its very robustness gave him a feeling of exuberance, that he could meet the obstacles which would confront him in the new town in the same way that he met the wild strength of the prairie."
Oh, that we could each have this same optimism as we face the "obstacles of life".
Good read. Not a favorite, but good.
July 5, 2016
After reading "A Lantern in Her Hand" about two years ago, I knew I wanted to read more of Bess Streeter Aldrich. I was able to obtain "Spring Came On Forever" on a library loan. I liked it very much but it took me a while to get engaged into the story. It was worth it to hang in there because a lot of background material needed to be covered to tell her story. It's the story of a young man who falls in love with a young woman but her extremely strict father would not allow her to see him because he had promised her to another man. They managed to see each other a few times before her family moved to Nebraska to settle the new territory there. He followed but did not arrive in time to keep her from wedding her betrothed. So the book follows both of their lives. It has good story lines and well developed characters and a lovely ending. However, even with all of that, I liked "Lantern.." better.
July 12, 2008
This book has an interesting premise - about a pioneering German woman who marries the wrong man. The beginning moves really slow and the character development is mild, at best. This is supposed to be considered one of her masterpieces and from a historical point of view, it is. There is quite a bit of wonderful pioneer and Nebraska territory history that will keep you entertained in the middle of the book. This section actually moves quite quickly. However, the end slows down to snail speed again like the beginning and you don't find yourself attached or really even that intimately interested in the outcome of the characters. Unless you deeply love pioneering history or Nebraska territory history, I would suggest several other books in the same genre first.
October 5, 2008
So at first I was really ticked off at how nothing worked out for the main characters--pretty outraged in fact. What kind of a book keeps the lovers from marrying each other? But as I finished it, I wasn't as mad, because even though life wasn't easy for anyone, it asserted that life generally evens things out over the years and lots of lessons about what's important. Anyway, it was actually a bit fascinating at the end how things worked out. I had to tell my husband and sister all about it when I finished, because it stayed with me and I needed to share it I guess. Pretty good stuff.
September 27, 2013
I enjoyed this sweet little book which really gave a good insight into those hard days of the prairie wives and their families. I cannot imagine a life where I work from dawn to bedtime without stopping. I am just lazy, I guess. I so would not have been one of those people aching to go West (or to the New World or anyplace else where civilization had not arrived yet). However I am aware that if my husband had wanted to go I would have had to follow. Glad to live when I do and just read about those times.
April 15, 2008
I read this for book club because it had the word Spring in the title and the description in amazon seemed pretty good. I think the story itself is OK, the pace was way too slow for me, though. Things definitely didn't work out the way I wanted them too! The historical aspects of the novel were very interesting to me and seemed true to life. This aspect provided a lot to think about. Overall, this won't be considered one of my favorites, but it wasn't a waste of time.
June 16, 2008
First, I bought a used 1935 addition of this book, and I was surprised how nostalgic the whole experience was. The aged paper and the feel of it was a new experience. That being said. The book was an inspirational book about life. The book covered the gamut, from the predictable to the surprising to the unrealistic. In the end I was inspired and heartened from the running theme. That even after the hardships and trials of life Spring returns and with it a new beginning.
September 29, 2008
Since I can't make the time commitment to read an entire series, I relish these kinds of books that are a complete story. Though the story was a bit predictable at times, I enjoyed this book. As a 4th generation Nebraskan of German descent, it almost felt as if I was reading a little bit of my own history.
April 14, 2016
Love the book, sad love story, but great ending. this book was given to me by my mother-in-law and I finally got around to reading it. She knew that I liked other books by Bess Streeter Aldrich and that I was a history nut, so this was right up my alley. My father-in-law came from Nebraska and it was fun to read about it's history. I just order a few more of her books.
August 1, 2025
Another lovely novel from Bess Streeter Aldrich. Sweet and sad. A personal favorite.
June 28, 2016 -- I have just finished re-reading this, it has held up well.
July 31, 2025. This is a masterpiece & my favorite of all of her books.
June 28, 2016 -- I have just finished re-reading this, it has held up well.
July 31, 2025. This is a masterpiece & my favorite of all of her books.
January 24, 2016
Bess Streeter Aldrich writes pioneer life so well. I did not love this book as much as her book "A Lantern in Her Hand". It was not a page turner, but I always enjoy her description of the prairie in the 1800's.
May 14, 2016
What a heartbreaking yet beautiful book. I was swept up in the love story, nearly feeling every emotion the characters had. What a sad yet romantic story that definitely pulled hard on my heartstrings.
June 13, 2012
White Bird Flying is my favorite Aldrich book still, but I enjoyed this one. I like the motif of the kettle and how that image is brought together at the end. I still enjoy a good western novel and I think Aldrich should have gotten just as much scholarly attention as Cather.
September 8, 2012
It had the beginnings of a great story, but with a very disappointing end for the main character. Not at all what I was expecting, but for some reason I can't get this book out of my head. it's kind of haunting.
February 12, 2014
I learned a lot about what life was like in settling this great country of ours. Makes me appreciate what my great great grand parents lives must of been like. My fathers family is from the Linclon NB. Area.
November 21, 2007
Another favorite! I have read this one several times.
January 23, 2008
Probably my favorite Bess Streeter Aldrich.
September 8, 2008
One of my all time favorites. A great book for women of all ages.
April 7, 2008
A beautiful love story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews