What do you think?
Rate this book
The Legacy of Ida Lillbroanda
WINNER Gold Medal, Independent Publishers Group 2011; Silver Medal Ben Franklin award; Bronze IPPY award; USA BOOK NEWS National Best Books 2010 Awards Finalist in the Multicultural Nonfiction category and Finalist Narrative Non-Fiction --
The West didn't close in 1893, contrary to what American historian Frederick Jackson Turner proclaimed. There were opportunities for adventurous Nordic women who became part of America s westward expansion.
Seduced by stories of promised riches in the New World and America Fever, that intense desire to emigrate to America, seventeen-year-old Ida Maria Andersdotter Lillbroanda leaves her family in Ostrobothnia on the West Coast of Finland for a destination halfway around the globe to the wild western edge of the North American continent. Ida crosses over the little bridge Lillbroanda that is her namesake. Or is it the metaphysical, genetic, spiritual, metaphoric bridge to a new world, Ida being the link from the Old World to the new?
The compelling story about a young Finnish peasant girl follows Ida Maria Andersdotter Lillbroanda's trek across North America from her disappointing arrival in Quebec in 1893 where she is quarantined because of diphtheria aboard ship, to Minnesota and Telluride, Colorado where she marries an ore miner and manages their boarding house. Turbulent conditions at the mines prompt their return to Finland in 1901 for a visit. Her husband urges that they remain in Finland, but Swedish-speaking Ida Maria responds adamantly, Till Amerika vi go; Finland is an Autonomous Grand Duchy under Russian rule; her husband lacks appropriate papers, so Ida Maria enacts her stealth plan to get her husband aboard the ship to America.
The Legacy of Ida Lillbroanda retraces the life of an ordinary woman who attains extraordinary achievements in her time and place. Historical, cultural and genealogical material are skillfully woven into the immigrant story as well as personal recollections of the author and those of the prior generation. As her daughters attest, Ida Maria is a determined young woman with a goal in mind and a mind of her own. Despite adversities and family tragedies, Ida Maria Sundquist fulfills her American Dream on their own farm in the fertile Skagit Valley of Washington State.
Eight-time award-winning historical narrative nonfiction. The Legacy of Ida Lillbroanda is being translated into Swedish.
The West didn't close in 1893, contrary to what American historian Frederick Jackson Turner proclaimed. There were opportunities for adventurous Nordic women who became part of America s westward expansion.
Seduced by stories of promised riches in the New World and America Fever, that intense desire to emigrate to America, seventeen-year-old Ida Maria Andersdotter Lillbroanda leaves her family in Ostrobothnia on the West Coast of Finland for a destination halfway around the globe to the wild western edge of the North American continent. Ida crosses over the little bridge Lillbroanda that is her namesake. Or is it the metaphysical, genetic, spiritual, metaphoric bridge to a new world, Ida being the link from the Old World to the new?
The compelling story about a young Finnish peasant girl follows Ida Maria Andersdotter Lillbroanda's trek across North America from her disappointing arrival in Quebec in 1893 where she is quarantined because of diphtheria aboard ship, to Minnesota and Telluride, Colorado where she marries an ore miner and manages their boarding house. Turbulent conditions at the mines prompt their return to Finland in 1901 for a visit. Her husband urges that they remain in Finland, but Swedish-speaking Ida Maria responds adamantly, Till Amerika vi go; Finland is an Autonomous Grand Duchy under Russian rule; her husband lacks appropriate papers, so Ida Maria enacts her stealth plan to get her husband aboard the ship to America.
The Legacy of Ida Lillbroanda retraces the life of an ordinary woman who attains extraordinary achievements in her time and place. Historical, cultural and genealogical material are skillfully woven into the immigrant story as well as personal recollections of the author and those of the prior generation. As her daughters attest, Ida Maria is a determined young woman with a goal in mind and a mind of her own. Despite adversities and family tragedies, Ida Maria Sundquist fulfills her American Dream on their own farm in the fertile Skagit Valley of Washington State.
Eight-time award-winning historical narrative nonfiction. The Legacy of Ida Lillbroanda is being translated into Swedish.
264 pages, Hardcover
First published September 28, 2010
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 6, 2021
Author Arlene Sundquist Empie does a good job of tracing her grandmother's heritage. She was fortunate to have what seems like dozens of people in Canada, Finland, and the United States helping her do much of the legwork of suggesting names, places, dates, and locations that allowed her to finally trace her grandmother's roots.
Empie mentions the names of so many extended family members, including cousins and småkusins, aunts and uncles, great aunts and uncles, great-great aunts and uncles, sisters, brothers, children, friends, and so on, that I got lost. The book would have benefited from a family tree or a similar visual to help the reader organize everyone she talks about. One exists for Ida Maria's ancestors, but not for the people who are actually mentioned and discussed in the book.
The author seems to have had difficulty deciding whether she was writing a folksy yet interesting biography for popular consumption, a thesis for an advanced degree, or just a story to pass down to her descendants. Probably all three, which makes the overall story slightly directionless.
The presentation is good but the book could have used a heavier edit to make it more cohesive and presentable. Five quick examples: 1) the second-level heads have inconsistent formatting; 2) I found the paucity of articles (the, an) and the lack of a grammatical pause between English and Swedish translations annoying; 3) Chapter 13 is titled "Sandquist Farm 1905," but fully 75 percent of the text is about other people only peripherally connected with the farm, sort of a who's who of Mt. Vernon, Washington; 4) Chapter 14 lists not just the books the early family library contained, but also the publisher name and location, date of publication, inscriptions, and where they're now housed. It added nothing to the discussion other than to flaunt the family's intellectual roots. And 5) Ida Maria and her husband return to Finland for a few months, leaving their prosperous home and boarding house in Colorado, yet when they return, they head for Washington State. I couldn't find any explanation of when, how, why, or even whether they sold their property in Telluride.
The author is rightfully proud of her heritage, but the book drips with self-satisfaction and smarm. For example, readers are reminded five or six times that the author's aunt had a Ph.D. and taught at Western Washington University. I also got a little sick of how great this family is. Yes, the author's ancestors were strong, adventurous pioneers, but other than the death of children and other loved ones, they never seemed to suffer any setbacks or wrongs. No one ever got mad at anyone, not a single person experienced substance abuse or alcoholism, no one got divorced or had an extramarital affair. One is led to believe the entire family going back generations was and is still perfect. Just perfect.
If your descendants are Swedish-speaking Finns, you'll learn a lot about Finnish emigration, history, and customs—if you don't mind the author's lack of humility.
Empie mentions the names of so many extended family members, including cousins and småkusins, aunts and uncles, great aunts and uncles, great-great aunts and uncles, sisters, brothers, children, friends, and so on, that I got lost. The book would have benefited from a family tree or a similar visual to help the reader organize everyone she talks about. One exists for Ida Maria's ancestors, but not for the people who are actually mentioned and discussed in the book.
The author seems to have had difficulty deciding whether she was writing a folksy yet interesting biography for popular consumption, a thesis for an advanced degree, or just a story to pass down to her descendants. Probably all three, which makes the overall story slightly directionless.
The presentation is good but the book could have used a heavier edit to make it more cohesive and presentable. Five quick examples: 1) the second-level heads have inconsistent formatting; 2) I found the paucity of articles (the, an) and the lack of a grammatical pause between English and Swedish translations annoying; 3) Chapter 13 is titled "Sandquist Farm 1905," but fully 75 percent of the text is about other people only peripherally connected with the farm, sort of a who's who of Mt. Vernon, Washington; 4) Chapter 14 lists not just the books the early family library contained, but also the publisher name and location, date of publication, inscriptions, and where they're now housed. It added nothing to the discussion other than to flaunt the family's intellectual roots. And 5) Ida Maria and her husband return to Finland for a few months, leaving their prosperous home and boarding house in Colorado, yet when they return, they head for Washington State. I couldn't find any explanation of when, how, why, or even whether they sold their property in Telluride.
The author is rightfully proud of her heritage, but the book drips with self-satisfaction and smarm. For example, readers are reminded five or six times that the author's aunt had a Ph.D. and taught at Western Washington University. I also got a little sick of how great this family is. Yes, the author's ancestors were strong, adventurous pioneers, but other than the death of children and other loved ones, they never seemed to suffer any setbacks or wrongs. No one ever got mad at anyone, not a single person experienced substance abuse or alcoholism, no one got divorced or had an extramarital affair. One is led to believe the entire family going back generations was and is still perfect. Just perfect.
If your descendants are Swedish-speaking Finns, you'll learn a lot about Finnish emigration, history, and customs—if you don't mind the author's lack of humility.
December 3, 2023
Interesting to read a Swedish Finnish immigration story into Washington State.
June 20, 2011
I learned a lot about where my great grandfather came from (Finland, but as a Finnish Swede) and the difficulties immigrants faced in the late 1800s/early 1900s. At times the writing was a bit too flowery, but the factual information was interesting. The author describes the life story of her grandmother, who came to America with a friend as a young girl. Her grandmother married another Finnish Swede and they built a home and family together ending up near Seattle. It was also sad realizing how difficult it was then for children to survive to adulthood.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews