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WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND
Martin and Asta came to America in 1913 to homestead and create a better life for themselves and a hoped-for family. Nineteen years later during the difficult years of the Great Plains Dust Bowl, they intend to improve the lives of three of their nine children by sending their eighteen-year-old daughter with her two younger sisters to Norway to live with relatives for two years.
But things do not go according to plan.
The oldest sister falls in love with and marries a young Norwegian man leaving the two younger sisters with no one to take them home. By 1940, when Germany invades Norway, the two younger sisters were living with the family relative who in the meantime married a Quisling, a member of the Norwegian Nazi Party. The two sisters miss the last US evacuee ship out of Petsamo, Finland, and soon German soldiers take one sister to Grini, a concentration camp north of Oslo. Eventually she and her older sister both marry men active in the Norwegian Resistance Movement of WWII.
Will the entire family ever reconnect?
But things do not go according to plan.
The oldest sister falls in love with and marries a young Norwegian man leaving the two younger sisters with no one to take them home. By 1940, when Germany invades Norway, the two younger sisters were living with the family relative who in the meantime married a Quisling, a member of the Norwegian Nazi Party. The two sisters miss the last US evacuee ship out of Petsamo, Finland, and soon German soldiers take one sister to Grini, a concentration camp north of Oslo. Eventually she and her older sister both marry men active in the Norwegian Resistance Movement of WWII.
Will the entire family ever reconnect?
327 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 2, 2022
17 people are currently reading
72 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 8, 2022
This story of a young Norwegian couple who leave everything behind to come to the US, through Ellis Island, touched me deeply. I'm from a farm background, and grew up worrying constantly if it would rain enough to get a crop, so I could empathize with the struggles this couple had farming the prairie of North Dakota. Why the US government encouraged these immigrants to farm the prairie that was stolen from the Indians is another question for another book. Suffice it to say, these people suffered greatly trying to raise 10 children. So when the opportunity came to send 3 of their daughters to relatives in Norway who could afford to take care of them, they had no choice but to let them go. When the sisters are living in Norway during the war, the saga takes a dramatic turn. I didn't expect much from this book when I started it, but ended up loving it. Bring the tissues.
February 23, 2023
In the dark of the night, Asta thought about her homeland – her parents back in Norway. They ask often in their letters if she and Martin couldn't bring the family home for a visit. But raising children during poor farming years certainly meant they couldn't possibly afford that trip.
Told from the perspective of the author as she recounts the story of her ancestors, Martin and Asta, who journey from Norway to America in 1913 to the MidWest prairies in search of a better life, this story unfolds as a touching view of the struggles of many emigrants. Faced with learning a new language, of leaving behind loved ones, of building homes and lives in uncertain times and environments, of making new friends, of raising children, and sacrificing their own happiness to ensure a bright future for their six girls and one boy over the next 19 years.
Wanderlust. Adventure. The urge to get away and go abroad churned in his head. Several of Martin's friends were packing up and leaving. They told Martin they'd get to America, get some land, and work hard. Others had done it. They weren't worried about the money. The land of opportunity. “Life for us is not here,” they'd tell Martin.
After overcoming the many obstacles to acquire land and build a homestead, Asta gives birth to girls, one after another, and one boy, and Martin becomes a farmer intent on supporting the family... even through the first World War, onward through the Dust Bowl years, the Great Depression, and just as the threat of WWII rose on the horizon, the couple are faced with the prospect of sending three of their daughters back to Norway for a couple of years because of the hardships and to help better their lives.
There were days she hated the prairie. Those were the days when the wind blew, the skies grew dark with threats of tornados, hailstorms forced them inside, and mosquitos swarmed around them. There were days she loved the prairie. Those were the days when the birds sang, the sea of tall prairie grasses swayed in the breezes, and wildflowers colored the open skies as she looked out at the vast horizon.
What they don't know is after they send the three girls, of the ages 17, 8, and 4, that the outbreak of the war across Europe will prevent the girls from returning. After Clara, the oldest, falls in love with a Norwegian man, she leaves her sisters in the care of relatives in Norway and moves away. Borghild and Eleanor are left to literally “grow up” in the midst of all the chaos, without their mother and father, and dependent upon a family relative who marries a Quisling (a traitor who collaborates with the Germans who occupy Norway after 1940). Everything changes for the two girls over the following years, with and even though they are American citizens, both suffer from the occupation, such as when Borghild is taken to the Grini concentration camp; and later she marries a Resistance fighter. Not until some ten years later do either of them get to see their parents again. By that time, the girls are grown.
But again, things change for Martin and Asta back home. Asta has given birth to two more girls, sisters unknown to Clara, Eleanor, and Borghild; yet, Asta longs to move on from their struggles in the MidWest. Many of the settlers there have their sights set on Seattle, and Martin and Asta eventually leave their son and his wife in the MidWest, and move to the coast to begin again.
Conversations about moving to Seattle occupied much of their family time. Martin and Asta emphasized how they made decisions. They talked about how they decided to leave Norway for the United States and what a journey that had been. They recalled how they decided to send the three girls to Norway and what a journey that has been. Both journeys were meant to create a better life. Now they faced a new journey, a new horizon, and hope for a better life.
This is a story of family, of sacrifice, of love, and survival... and how the roots of a family reach far and wide across the old country into the blossoming sprouts formed in America. As said above, this is a touching story and when reading, a reader gets a sense of the immense love the author has for her family and the stories passed down through the generations. To know that the family, to this day, still gather together to remember Martin and Asta and their brave steps to leave behind all that they had ever known to start anew, is quite heartwarming. The historical aspect is woven in nicely and while not as immersive as a typical historical fiction novel, with wide story and character arcs, or intense building conflict, this story gives insight into the struggles of most emigrants of the time period. “What We Leave Behind” is a lovely homage to Ms Solberg's family and a treasure she has shared with the world.
*****
“What We Leave Behind” by Barb Solberg receives four stars from The Historical Fiction Company
Told from the perspective of the author as she recounts the story of her ancestors, Martin and Asta, who journey from Norway to America in 1913 to the MidWest prairies in search of a better life, this story unfolds as a touching view of the struggles of many emigrants. Faced with learning a new language, of leaving behind loved ones, of building homes and lives in uncertain times and environments, of making new friends, of raising children, and sacrificing their own happiness to ensure a bright future for their six girls and one boy over the next 19 years.
Wanderlust. Adventure. The urge to get away and go abroad churned in his head. Several of Martin's friends were packing up and leaving. They told Martin they'd get to America, get some land, and work hard. Others had done it. They weren't worried about the money. The land of opportunity. “Life for us is not here,” they'd tell Martin.
After overcoming the many obstacles to acquire land and build a homestead, Asta gives birth to girls, one after another, and one boy, and Martin becomes a farmer intent on supporting the family... even through the first World War, onward through the Dust Bowl years, the Great Depression, and just as the threat of WWII rose on the horizon, the couple are faced with the prospect of sending three of their daughters back to Norway for a couple of years because of the hardships and to help better their lives.
There were days she hated the prairie. Those were the days when the wind blew, the skies grew dark with threats of tornados, hailstorms forced them inside, and mosquitos swarmed around them. There were days she loved the prairie. Those were the days when the birds sang, the sea of tall prairie grasses swayed in the breezes, and wildflowers colored the open skies as she looked out at the vast horizon.
What they don't know is after they send the three girls, of the ages 17, 8, and 4, that the outbreak of the war across Europe will prevent the girls from returning. After Clara, the oldest, falls in love with a Norwegian man, she leaves her sisters in the care of relatives in Norway and moves away. Borghild and Eleanor are left to literally “grow up” in the midst of all the chaos, without their mother and father, and dependent upon a family relative who marries a Quisling (a traitor who collaborates with the Germans who occupy Norway after 1940). Everything changes for the two girls over the following years, with and even though they are American citizens, both suffer from the occupation, such as when Borghild is taken to the Grini concentration camp; and later she marries a Resistance fighter. Not until some ten years later do either of them get to see their parents again. By that time, the girls are grown.
But again, things change for Martin and Asta back home. Asta has given birth to two more girls, sisters unknown to Clara, Eleanor, and Borghild; yet, Asta longs to move on from their struggles in the MidWest. Many of the settlers there have their sights set on Seattle, and Martin and Asta eventually leave their son and his wife in the MidWest, and move to the coast to begin again.
Conversations about moving to Seattle occupied much of their family time. Martin and Asta emphasized how they made decisions. They talked about how they decided to leave Norway for the United States and what a journey that had been. They recalled how they decided to send the three girls to Norway and what a journey that has been. Both journeys were meant to create a better life. Now they faced a new journey, a new horizon, and hope for a better life.
This is a story of family, of sacrifice, of love, and survival... and how the roots of a family reach far and wide across the old country into the blossoming sprouts formed in America. As said above, this is a touching story and when reading, a reader gets a sense of the immense love the author has for her family and the stories passed down through the generations. To know that the family, to this day, still gather together to remember Martin and Asta and their brave steps to leave behind all that they had ever known to start anew, is quite heartwarming. The historical aspect is woven in nicely and while not as immersive as a typical historical fiction novel, with wide story and character arcs, or intense building conflict, this story gives insight into the struggles of most emigrants of the time period. “What We Leave Behind” is a lovely homage to Ms Solberg's family and a treasure she has shared with the world.
*****
“What We Leave Behind” by Barb Solberg receives four stars from The Historical Fiction Company
June 7, 2025
Leaving one’s country with few possessions and only hopes and dreams as Asta and Martin did would have been both adventurous and daunting. Martin and Asta married at a young age and left Norway to seek better opportunities, as Martin was not the first born and would not have inherited the farm or family owned store. It was easy to feel a closeness to the family as Ms. Solberg wrote about their industriousness in building a house, planting crops, and starting a family which eventually grew to nine children. The reader could feel the parents’ uncertainty and anguish as they debated whether to send three of their young children back to Norway to live with a wealthy relative until farming conditions improved after years of drought. What was supposed to be two years away from daughters Clara, Boya, and Eleanor turned into 18 with WWII interfering with travel and making life in Norway miserable for all with German occupation of the country.
Ms. Solberg wrote in a straightforward manner without flowery description, which I liked. The emotions of the characters still came across well. From their actions, I felt I got to know the characters well. I could pictures places, characters , and events.
The events in the book are true, with conversations and emotions, of course, imagined. The ancestors on my father’s side came from Norway, and I have visited the land they farmed. Even without this fact, I could have related well to this story with Ms. Solberg’s writing.
Ms. Solberg wrote in a straightforward manner without flowery description, which I liked. The emotions of the characters still came across well. From their actions, I felt I got to know the characters well. I could pictures places, characters , and events.
The events in the book are true, with conversations and emotions, of course, imagined. The ancestors on my father’s side came from Norway, and I have visited the land they farmed. Even without this fact, I could have related well to this story with Ms. Solberg’s writing.
December 3, 2022
A Must Read or Hear: A Most Thorough Historical Fiction
I listened to the audiobook and read the accompanying pdf with family pictures. For the obsessed genealogist, this book succinctly brings to life the documents and research one must do to "find family" left behind in lost memories. The narrative imagines and recounts stories to fill in the gaps, and research of different events in history weave through like a well-knit sweater. For anyone interested in the great European migration of the late 1800s and early 1900s, this book will capture your imagination and inspire you to dig deeper. For the audiobook listener, you will hear Barb's absolutely charming North Dakota accent. It made me a little homesick for my own North Dakota family I had to leave behind to make my way in the world. A thousand thanks to Barb Solberg for this wonderful creation! And thanks to my childhood swim coach Patrice Mitchell for recommending this amazing book.
I listened to the audiobook and read the accompanying pdf with family pictures. For the obsessed genealogist, this book succinctly brings to life the documents and research one must do to "find family" left behind in lost memories. The narrative imagines and recounts stories to fill in the gaps, and research of different events in history weave through like a well-knit sweater. For anyone interested in the great European migration of the late 1800s and early 1900s, this book will capture your imagination and inspire you to dig deeper. For the audiobook listener, you will hear Barb's absolutely charming North Dakota accent. It made me a little homesick for my own North Dakota family I had to leave behind to make my way in the world. A thousand thanks to Barb Solberg for this wonderful creation! And thanks to my childhood swim coach Patrice Mitchell for recommending this amazing book.
February 23, 2023
Wonderfully written book based on a true story. The family bond was very strong. Ms. Solberg described the Aadnes family from Norway, to North Dakota to Washington State. Sending three children back to Norway had to be so difficult. The stories and adventures were interesting to read and very heart warming.
Beautiful story of how a strong family bond will endure.
Beautiful story of how a strong family bond will endure.
November 25, 2023
Oh how our ancestors struggled. Everyday was a struggle for survival. Manual labor was the main ingredient as most didn't have the means for anything else. I'm sure this family story was not must different than many others in the early 1900. I had an actual book that I read and would give a 3.5.
December 19, 2025
Solberg took the pieces of her history and wove them into a realistic tale that brought to life the hardships of homesteading in ND. Their bravery and determination were admirable and aptly described how many of our ND ancestors got their start.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews