A Saloonkeeper's Daughter
Drude Krog Janson author Gerald Thorson translator Orm Øverland editor
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Johns Hopkins University Press
Published:1st Mar '02
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
"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.
An intriguing book... The novel realistically details middle-class life in the Norwegian-American immigrant community in 1870s Minneapolis. -- Clarence Mondale American Studies International At last available in an English translation, this Norwegian American historical novel... tells the story of the beautiful Astrid, an immigrant who struggles to find her way to independence and faith. Janson was 36 when she came to the U.S., and in this novel she vividly evokes the tough life in Minneapolis and the landscape of Norway and Minnesota... Highly recommended for all libraries. Choice Drude Krog Janson lived an incredibly fascinating life, at the center of which was the struggle for women's rights. This is also true of her first novel, which follows a woman through adversity and struggle in a man's world and a class-conscious culture, until she finds her own identity as a free and independent human being... Today the novel is of interest both for its historical setting and as an early and daring attempt to tell the story of a young woman who has the strength and the courage to choose to live a full life without compromise. The novel may also make you wish to find out more about the author: a very many-faceted and productive woman who had an impact both in Norway and abroad. -- Hans H. Skei Aftenposten (Oslo) A Saloonkeeper's Daughter is fascinating and enjoyable reading... The novel is a lyrical female coming-of-age story, realistically portraying the protagonist's struggles while showing women who create successful intellectual and emotional lives for themselves in a male-dominated society. -- Solveig Zempel Journal of American Ethnic History This strong American novel... is above all else a women's liberation treatise that is universally applicable... It is an interesting and worthwhile reading experience. Avisen
ISBN: 9780801868818
Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 12mm
Weight: 272g
192 pages