The classic story of a Norwegian pioneer family's struggles with the land and the elements of the Dakota Territory as they try to make a new life in America.

"A firmly woven tapestry of harsh texture wrought by a master sure in his choice of strong fiber and of color, telling with heroic gesture and intricate design its legend of simple people struggling in the eternal coil of unwitting life."-Times Literary Supplement (London)

"A moving narrative of pioneer hardship and heroism the background of the boundless Dakota prairie, with its mysterious distances and its capacity for evil, is painted with alternating beauty and grimness." -Atlantic Monthly

"The fullest, finest, and most powerful novel that has been written about pioneer life in America."-The Nation