Swede Hollow Book Talk with Ola Larsmo

Swedish author Ola Larsmo joins us to discuss his latest book Swede Hollow, a riveting family saga immersed in the gritty, dark side of Swedish immigrant life in America in the early 20th century. When Gustaf and Anna Klar and their three children leave Sweden for New York in 1897, they take with them a terrible secret and a longing for a new life. But their dream of starting over is nearly crushed at the outset: a fire devastates Ellis Island just as they arrive, and the relentlessly harsh conditions and lack of work in the city make it impossible for Gustaf to support his family.

But an unexpected gift allows the Klars to make one more desperate move, this time to the Midwest and a place called Swede Hollow: a cluster of shacks in a deep, wooded ravine on the edge of St. Paul, Minnesota, populated by a hardscrabble lot of Irish, Italian, and Swedish immigrants. While the men labor at low-paid jobs on the Great Northern or Northern Pacific railroads or work at the nearby brewery, the women clean houses, work at laundries, or sew clothing in stifling factories.

Though outsiders malign Swede Hollow as unsanitary and rife with disease, the Klar family and their neighbors persevere in this neglected corner of the city—and consider it home.

Extensively researched and beautifully written, Ola Larsmo’s award-winning novel vividly portrays a family and a community determined to survive, as hardships, indignities, and harrowing encounters are accompanied by acts of loyalty and kindness, and moments of joy. This haunting story of characters often absent from the familiar stories of Swedish American history echoes the larger challenges of immigration in the 20th century on to today.

This event has been made possible in part through the generous support of the Consulate General of Sweden.