ELEANOR HILDEBRAND CHORNOBOY

I really enjoyed this book which tells the story of one young woman emigrating from Russia to Canada with the first wave of Mennonites who came to Manitoba. I vaguely knew the history of the Mennonites but I had never realized until I read this book how hard life was for them when they reached Canada. They came because of the promise of free land but that land had to be cleared and broken and houses had to be built. They arrived too late in the year to plant anything and they had used up almost all their supplies on the long voyage to Manitoba. Many people got ill with dysentery; Katarina's mother died on the boat from England to Canada. It really is a wonder that anyone survived the hardships. Those pioneers were made of stern stuff.… (lisätietoja)