The Emigrants (novel series) facts for kids
Statue of the main characters, Karl-Oskar and Kristina, in Karlshamn
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| Author | Vilhelm Moberg |
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| Original title | Utvandrarna |
| Translator | Gustaf Lannestock |
| Country | Sweden |
| Language | Swedish |
| Genre | Historic drama |
| Publisher | Bonniers (Swedish edition) |
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Publication date
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1949, 1952, 1956, 1959 |
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Published in English
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1951, 1954, 1961, 1961 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 1780 (in total, Swedish edition) |
The Emigrants is the name for a series of four novels by the Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg. These books tell an amazing story. They are about people who left Sweden to find a new life.
The four books in the series are:
- The Emigrants (Swedish: Utvandrarna), published in 1949
- Unto a Good Land (Swedish: Invandrarna which means 'The Immigrants'), published in 1952
- The Settlers (Swedish: Nybyggarna), published in 1956
- The Last Letter Home (Swedish: Sista brevet till Sverige which means 'The Last Letter to Sweden'), published in 1959
All these books have been translated into English. Many people think they are some of the best books in Swedish literature.
Contents
The Story of The Emigrants
This novel series tells about a long and tough journey. A group of people leave the area of Småland in Sweden. They travel all the way to the United States in 1850. This was when many Swedes first started moving to America.
Karl-Oskar and Kristina's Journey
The main characters are Karl-Oskar Nilsson and his wife, Kristina Johansdotter. They are a young married couple. They live with their four small children: Anna, Johan, Lill-Märta, and Harald. Karl-Oskar's parents also live with them. His younger brother, Robert, works on nearby farms.
Their family lives on a small farm called Korpamoen. The soil there is very thin and rocky. This makes it super hard to grow crops. Life is very difficult for them.
A New Idea: America
Robert and his friend Arvid are tired of being treated badly by the farmers. They hear about going to America. Robert talks to Karl-Oskar about this idea. Karl-Oskar also found papers saying that farming in North America was much better.
Kristina, however, does not want to leave. She loves her homeland. She also worries about her children's safety on such a long trip.
A Sad Event Changes Everything
Then, something very sad happens to the family. In the winter of 1849, they have very little food. On the day their youngest child, Harald, is christened, Kristina makes a big bowl of barley porridge. Their oldest child, Anna, who is four, really wants some. She goes to the cellar where it is cooling. Anna eats a lot of the porridge.
She becomes terribly sick from it. Karl-Oskar and Kristina call for Beata, a healing woman. Beata tells them Anna is very ill. Anna suffers through the night and sadly dies the next morning. After this tragedy, Kristina agrees to make the journey to America. They plan to go to Minnesota.
Who Joins the Journey?
As Karl-Oskar, Kristina, their three children, and Robert get ready, others join them. Kristina's uncle and aunt, Danjel and Inga-Lena Andreasson, come with their four children. Danjel Andreasson is a leader of a religious group called the Åkianer. This group faced problems from the official Church of Sweden. Danjel wants to find religious freedom in the United States. This freedom is promised in the Constitution of the United States.
A woman named Ulrika of Västergöhl also joins them. She is part of Danjel's religious group. Ulrika wants to start a new life in America with her daughter, Elin. Danjel also pays for Arvid's trip, hiring him as a farmhand. Finally, Jonas Petter, a friend of Karl-Oskar, joins the group. He is leaving an unhappy marriage.
The group starts their journey by wagon. They travel to the Swedish port city of Karlshamn, on the Baltic Sea. There, they board a ship called the Charlotta. This ship will take them as emigrants to New York City.
Why These Books Are Important
The novels have sold almost two million copies in Sweden. They have also been translated into more than twenty languages. This shows how popular and important they are.
Special Awards
- In 1997, a poll by Biblioteket i fokus (Library in focus) asked 27,000 people to vote. They chose this series as the best Swedish book of the 20th century.
- In 1998, a poll by Sveriges television asked 17,000 people. They voted this series as the most important Swedish book of all time.
Movies and Musicals
The books have been made into movies and a musical.
Movies
Two movies based on the books came out in the 1970s. Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann played Karl-Oskar and Kristina.
- The Emigrants, a 1971 movie by Jan Troell. It was based on the first two novels.
- The New Land, a 1972 movie. This was a sequel to the first film. It was based on the last two novels.
A new movie called The Emigrants was released in December 2021. It stars Gustaf Skarsgård, Lisa Carlehed, and Tove Lo.
Musical
Kristina från Duvemåla is a musical. It was created by former ABBA members Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. It was first performed in the 1990s. The musical was very successful in Sweden and other countries.
