Review of Hannah's Daughters

Hannah's Daughters by Marianne Fredriksson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book is about three generations of Swedish women starting from the tough life of a farmer's wife to the city transplant and the development of modern urban life and socialism in Sweden. I am not so much interested in Swedish history and farm life as I am in Norwegian farm life, but the setting for the first generation turns out to be on the Norwegian border and to be not far away from the town my mother was born in.

The book is framed by Anna, the third generation who is writing a book about the mother and grandmother. When she is writing the book, her mother is in a nursing home and has lost most of her faculties. Actually, this part of the book is not so interesting in my opinion as the story of Hannah. The life on the farm, the mill that she eventually moves to, and even her moving and adapting to the city is quite gripping at times. Hannah is very stoic and accepting of life -- it is what it is, and death and hard times are just part of the way things are for most farmer's wives. It gives a real glimpse into the world of my ancestors -- probably my father's father's family and their farm life in northern Norway.

The story of Johanna "told in her own words" brings us a view of what life is like through the Depression and World War 2 in Sweden. We also get a sense of how things are starting to change for women -- though ironically not enough. I found this part to be up and down in keeping my interest, but to be fair it was in its own way as compelling as Hannah's part. I'm sure not everyone would find the daily life of farm women to be gripping.

Anna's story - the interlude or frame of the story -- is the least interesting. I think I find Anna the hardest character to relate to and also we start getting more and more in to psychology. A little too much of that whereas Hannah was perhaps the polar opposite with her superstitions.

Anyway, it is not an action or plot oriented book, and I would not even call it character-driven. It is a "study" of how time, location, and history shape three generations of women without all the drama of a Sidney Sheldon or Jackie Collins or Nora Ephron novel might offer.
Overall, I would call this a 3 star effort.



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