Description
In the year 1910, at age twenty, Karl Artur Johan Gustafsson leaves Sweden to follow his older siblings to America. Renamed “Carl Arthur Gustafson” at Ellis Island, he begins a new life in Forestville/Bristol Connecticut where he falls in love with and marries Jennie Anderson. Together they build their “house,” guiding their family through the rapidly changing events of the 20th century. In this multi-layered, multiple-generational story, their third child takes her readers on a journey through WWI, the Great Depression, WWII, changing technologies, changing roles, and the tumultuous sixties and seventies.
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In the opening scene the writer immediately drops you back into the past with such vivid detail that you feel as if the story is being narrated for a feature film. You can smell the baking bread. You can feel the Mother’s pain as she prepares for her son’s departure. The cultural references of the author’s Swedish-American upbringing is interesting, and it was fascinating to read about a completely different historical period of time so opposite of how we live in today’s word. That the author once sat on a rooftop as a child- on the lookout for enemy planes- and now sits at a desk typing on her computer to bring us this beautifully written story.
I just read My Father’s House by Mona Gustafson. It is a loving and respectful chronological accounting of her immigrant father’s life from poverty in Sweden in 1907 to his life in America through the 1970s. An epilogue provides recent updates as well. So if readers are like me and want to know “what happened to that character?” they will find that closure there.
The book opens in 1907 when Karl, the last of six children is to leave the poor forest farm village. His mother wonders if she will ever see him again; a universal theme. He circles his home hoping to imprint it in his memory, stopping at the church cemetery to say his silent good byes. We follow him to unfamiliar towns and cities and eventually to join family in America, each time learning and acclimating.
We eventually meet family and friends as Carl and his wife, and his children and grandchildren live their lives. So many themes are familiar to any of us: success and failure, joy and sorrow, love and despair, courage and fear.
I found at times that I was so invested in the characters that I needed to rush to read certain sections to see how it all worked out. Carl, now with family, prospering in Connecticut gets a private loan and begins to build his home in early 1929. I was relieved to read that the house would provide shelter for them for the next 40 years. I had been so worried that that they might lose it to the Depression. When Mona’s brother is overseas during WW II I held my breath until he returned home.
This was a book written by a proud loving daughter, a scholar who did her research. It is clear that family members wrote letters and kept diaries. It is also a history lesson about much of the 20th century; from horse drawn carts to landing on the moon and more. Find that comfortable chair and spend some time with the real people who inhabit the pages within.
READING ALOUD WITH A FRIEND
I enjoyed reading this book aloud with my friend whose vision is limited by Macular degeneration. It evoked many memories of my own upbringing as I recognized similar personalities in my family, bringing back happy and sad events and circumstances. Doesn’t every family have them!
I appreciated Mona’s on-going descriptions of what was taking place in world events starting with WW !, immigration, the Great Depression (I heard a lot about that from my own grandparents and parents!), re-building the Nation, Pearl Harbor, WW II, The Korean Conflict, crystal sets, radio, air flights, etc During the reading of this book I found myself looking back at so many past memories of my life and being grateful for the wonderful, loving family into which I was born.
I wondered whether the author’s selection of psychology as her life career reflected her upbringing and family’s trials and tribulations? It was so sad and frustrating to see Jennie’s decline even as we witnessed her husband’s sustained adoration and love of his wife during these difficult times.
This was not a particularly uplifting book but an honest and comprehensive description of a loving, ambitious and talented immigrant who conquered the many challenges presented him in order to become the successful, respected and loved man that he was. His love for God, his community and his family is evident.
Congratulations to Mona for publication of this story that has obviously been a “work in progress” for many years. It is a wonderful and complete tale of “My Father’s House.”
As for the author’s style, I enjoyed reading the minute details and highly descriptive passages. Some readers, however, might not appreciate this style.
Dear Mona,
I have just finished reading “My Father’s House” and wanted you to know how much I enjoyed it! Many old memories came to mind especially regarding my grandfather and grandmother. I too remember Grandpa in his coffin in the formal living room. Dad picked me up to say goodbye and I patted his hand. I was 3 and I still can see in my mind all the flowers, gladioli and the chairs lined up. Also, remembering all your Aunts and their husbands, the Ladies Aid at Bethesda, Sarah E. Reynolds and so much more! You have done an outstanding tribute to your family, and I am glad I was able to help in a small way. Loved your photos too. Uncle Carl and Aunt Jennie were a special couple.
Love, Phyllis
Comments from local readers:
– I thought it was some of your best descriptive prose.
-I could so easily feel, visualize and feel drawn into the scenes and I could picture my own Norwegian grandparents, aunts and uncles in that same place.
-I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters after I’d finished reading the book.
-It felt so familiar to me, and I’m not even Scandinavian.
-The way Mona writes, it’s as if I’m right there.
-I felt like I was in my own home
I SEE THIS AS A BLOCK BUSTER MOVIE
At the end of the book, I thought that if Metro Golden Meyer hooked this, it would be a block buster. The characters are lovingly and distinctly portrayed with all their strengths and foibles, and their development through times of war, depression and into the seventies. I grew fond of Father Carl – born in 1880 and emigrating from Sweden 1910.
For this Norwegian reviewer it was overwhelming to try to remember all the names of the characters – but still I found myself reading in bed at 04 am, wondering about how Jennie and the family would cope with her “sensibilities” – I will not tell the readers how that went. Among the clear descriptions of life in these times,It was such a clear and loving tale of how too much consideration can devastate a persons life. “Let’s not borrow trouble” was the fathers adage, it seems the family adapted it too – as we humans do, with grave consequences.
Mona’s professorate in Psychology and her interventions created a strong and dramatic change in the family – the last chapters were a great eye-opener of what happens when the cat in the sac gets out – and the fresh new air pours in.
4 stars – reflecting the bit overwhelming number of names and relationships.
I feel well fed after reading it.
And grateful
Leelah Saachi
Writer
I found “My Father’s House, by Mona Gustafson to be an honest and, sometimes profound, look at the complexities of family ancestors, and the following generations as they come to America from their native Sweden.
Their story was a catalyst for me in my observation of my family as they immigrated from Ireland, Scotland and Germany holding fast to cultural traditions, faith and a strong value system. How they all emerge as individuals in a new and changing world is quite a reward to the reader from this gifted author.
Judy Gunther December 2020
My Father’s House Is beyond Brilliant, Fantastic. Being that I was born and raised in Bristol and I still live here. Seeing pictures of Forestville Center before I was born is neat; also I travel the very same roads which Mona’s family did. It makes me feel honored to know the history as to what took place back then. I recommend My Father’s House and the highest rating in a book review.