A Saloonkeeper's Daughter

by Drude Krog Janson, Gerald Thorson (Translator), Orm Øverland (Editor)

"An authentic story of life in Minneapolis in the late nineteenth century. That ring of authenticity comes clearly from the mind and craft of an artist at work. For the contemporary reader, the novel provides a glimpse of an immigrant society, a culture in exile, and the immigrants' responses to the social scene . . . Drawing on the realistic and naturalistic trends in Europe and in America, Janson has written an American novel that anticipates the works of such writers as Theodore Dreiser, Stephen Crane, and Sarah Orne Jewett."―from the Preface by Gerald Thorson First published in Norwegian by a Minneapolis firm in 1887, Drude Krog Janson's A Saloonkeeper's Daughter has been sadly neglected in the history of American literature, despite its unusually forward-looking portrayal of a self-reliant, career-minded woman and its importance within America's regional and urban literary traditions. Janson's lyrical coming-of-age novel tells the story of the pensive, beautiful Astrid Holm, forced by her family's bankruptcy to abandon a comfortable, middle-class life in Norway for a harsh, new existence in Minneapolis living in an apartment above her father's saloon. She attempts to escape this hardship through art (as an actress) and love (entering into an unhappy relationship with a brutish lawyer) until she finds her true calling as a Unitarian minister and fulfills her longing for meaningful companionship with Helene Nielsen, a selfless doctor to poor immigrants. With this edition of A Saloonkeeper's Daughter , an important and prescient work of American fiction is finally available in English.

Genres: Classics, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Scandinavian Literature

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 2, 2002

Reviews

[Ylva Andrea]

Boka om ei norsk jente som migrer t USA m dustefarn sin, og møt masse dustemenn og bli behandla akkurat som man forventa at ei dama blei behandla på 1800 tallet - helt t ho møt Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, spis servietten sin og lar han overtal ho t å bli prest 💪🏻

[Karna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why aren’t more people talking about this? I absolutely adored it! A hidden gem in American/Norwegian literature. Astrid grows from a young girl to an independent and defiant woman. The feminism in this novel is cleverly built up, as subtle undertones in the beginning, gradually developing until taking centre stage at the end. I loved this!

[Haley Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gets 2 stars because it wasn’t bad for a book I was forced to read for a class

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very sentimental. I loved that Wagner is the pivotal moment for Astrid! Fascinating in its intersection of ethnicity, class, sexuality, religion. I'm interested in the way it portrays Astrid's diasporic identity, particularly how liberal Christianity is more important than other markers (especially ethnicity).

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's sort of less literature and more of a tirade. The author was an intellectual and a feminist, which disposes me toward her message. But her writing is a sort of melodramatic and her characters either one-dimensional or over-wrought. None of them are particularly likeable. The rarity of a feminist perspective in a book from the late 1800s makes me glad I read it, but the writing is not good.

[Isabel Bryan [the Bookmark Hoarder] · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sure the original Norwegian was better than the English. I tried to take into account the fact that this was the author's first novel, and that it was a translation, but it was still hard to enjoy it. The entire plot is given on the back cover. Eventually, I did care about the protagonist, but it was obvious the point was not the story itself but the lesson behind the story.

[Roar Nornes]

I'm sorry, this should be read in schools.

Dudes being dicks is the best genre, they are all the worst.

[Anna-Catherine Lunsford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Astrid and her mother had good character development. I felt that the book fell off towards the end though.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a novel, two stars; as a historical artifact, four stars.

[Rasmus Abel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hotel Cesar i bokform

[Travis West · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, Punchy, historical fiction and a classic American-story set in Early Minneapolis, Minnesota. I found this book extremely enjoyable dealing with complex identity struggles for the main character as she attempts to adjust to her new home above a saloon in America.

Reccomend this one if you're a resident of the Twin Cities, interested in identity and how immigration changes it, or just looking for a good piece of historical fiction.

[Suzette Kunz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting novel about a girl from Norway coming to America in the 1800s. Her women's rights agenda is a little bit stilted, but I liked the rest of it quite a bit. It was written by a Norwegain woman in 1887. It was translated into English.

[Paula Soper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe I was wrong to say that translated, late 19th century books are weird. This one was pretty interesting.

Was there a lesbian relationship in the end, or are we imposing a modern reading on the text. Hard to tell.

[Julianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strong feminist message that I appreciated. However, dully written with un-appealing characters to whom I could not relate.