The Icecutter's Daughter by Tracie Peterson, A Land of Shining
Water Series
Dedicated to : To the Ladies of our morning
study.
I have read a number of Tracie Peterson's book and I was not
disappointed. I like her style and the strong characters she has in her books.
Keep tissues handy because there is always a sad moment or two in a Christian
romance.
The Icecutter's Daughter begins on December 31,1895 in a small
town in Minnesota. Merrill Krause is trying to help a Belgian mare deliver her
foal.
She has four older brothers and a father; Merrill had promised
her dying mother she would care for them and that was ten years
ago.
She is a strong character and can cook as well as help with
the horses and ice cutting in the frozen lakes. Carl Jorgenson tells Rurik she
is a good cook and always wins at the fair.
Rurik Jorgenson has come to Waseca, Minnesota to help his
Uncle Carl Jorgenson with his furniture building business as Carl has been in
poor health. Rurik is from Kansas and had recently broken up with his fiance,
Svea Olsson. This was an arranged marriage as was the Swedish custom but a
fading custom. Svea broke up with Rurik when she found he was going to
Minnesota.
Rurik helps with the ice cutting with Merrill's father as well
as helping his uncle build furniture.
The story leads us into a romance when Rurik falls in love
with Merrill. Problems arise when Svea and her brother, Nils, arrive in Waseca
and she tells Rurik she is carrying his child. Rurik denies he has ever been
with her but not all believe him. Nils also falls for Merrill and so the story
continues.
The story has a lot of history, both Swedish and
German. The ice cutting is still happening in 1895 however,
technology is beginning to make this a dying need.
I will say at this point, that my husband and brother-in-law
remember the ice cutting in Minnesota lakes in the 1940s when the store cut ice
and sold it from Mille Lacs Lake in northern Minnesota.
Be prepared for the food Merrill makes and
serves; strudel and spaetzle for two. It would have been nice to have a recipe
or two in the book.
Tracie Peterson did have some prayers in the
book.
Rurik tells Merrill " One of my very first things I remember
memorizing was the Lord's Prayer-in Swedish." (page 213)
The Lord's Prayer was said by Rurik in Swedish: "Fader Var som
ar i Himmelen. Helgat varde Ditt namn. Tillkomme Ditt Rike. Ske Din vilja, sasom
i Himmelen sa ock pd Jprden. Vat dagliga brod giv oss idag Och forlat oss vara
skulder sasom ock vi forlata dem oss skyldiga aro och inled oss icke i frestelse
utan frals oss ifran ondo. Ty Riket ar Ditt och Makten och Harlingheten i
Evighet. Amen."
(my husband has his grandmother's Swedish Bible)
A German prayer said by Merrill's father: "Komm, Herr Jesu;
sei du unser Gast, und segne, was du uns bescheret hast. Amen." (page
87)
"Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest and bless what you have
bestowed. Amen"
A good read for some history and a Christian romance.
I give this a 5 star rating.
I received a complimentary copy from Bethany House to read and
review. The opinions are my own.
Tracie Peterson can be reached at www.traciepeterson.com
She is the author of more than 90 novels, both historical and
contemporary.
Leona Olson
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