Disguised Love

By Marie E. Bast

Description:

In 1849, their parents' death from cholera forces Swedish immigrants Ingrid Swanson and Lars Nelson to wed in order to rescue their four siblings from an orphanage and adoption. But that's the least of Ingrid's worries. She agrees to a fake marriage, in name only, until she can earn enough money for passage back to Sweden and her fiancé, Christof, before he finds out.


Lars' heart shatters after the death of his fiancée, Mary, Ingrid's sister, which forces him into a marriage of convenience with the quick-witted but unhappy Ingrid and tosses his life further into trepidation. The gold rush of '48, entices many Iowa farmers to abandon their homesteads and head west, which allows Lars to purchase farmland at $1.25 an acre. He and Ingrid build a log cabin, work the land, and make a home for their grieving siblings, who are a handful.

Book Takeaway:

“Why did they have to die, Lars? God sent us on this journey, Papa said, so why did God call them home?” ... Lars cleared the emotion from his throat. He knew exactly what Gunnar was saying. It wasn’t fair. But God didn’t send disease to kill people. God wouldn’t do that. As strange as it seemed, Lars felt as if God’s hand pressed against his back, pushing him forward. “Sometimes, Gunnar, all we can do is trust God.”

Awards:

Why the author wrote this book:

It's based on a true story of when the Swedish immigrants came over in 1849 to settle the prairie during a cholera epidemic, and in this story, to settle in New Sweden, Iowa, because farm land was selling for $1.25 an acre. It's about what the immigrants suffered in the 19th to come to the U.S., to own land, for freedom, and in this case to have spiritual freedom and leave a state church.