Years

LaVyrle Spencer

This wonderful novel is a grown up's version of Little House on the Prairie, with the romance that cannot be denied, and a dash of Willa Cather thrown in. It takes place in North Dakota. I have always pictured North Dakota as a flat, harsh land. Spencer shows us how beautiful that area can be to offset the winter harshness, and highlights the beauty of winter there as well.

Just before the United State's involvement in World War I, Linnea Brandonberg goes to Alamo, North Dakota, to be the new school teacher. She is just graduated from teaching school, 18 years old. She is lovely and lively and ready to start life on her own.

Theodore, Teddy, Westgaard picks her up at the train station. The school teachers always board with him, his mother, and his teen age son. He is appalled that the new teacher is a woman! His Norwegian family is close, but quiet and reserved. These two immediately butt heads when she discovers the older boys do not attend school until after harvest. How dare these people deprive those sons their full share of schooling?

Linnea quickly settles in with the Westgaard family. Nissa, Teddy's mother, won't let Linnea work around the house and helps Linnea acclimatize to her new environment. Kristian, Teddy's 16-year-old son develops his first crush. Linnea and Teddy fight first each other, then their feelings they discover they have. Teddy fights to remain level headed because she is much too young for him.

This novel is beautiful. These people could quickly step out of the pages of Years. The book not only focuses on Teddy and Linnea, but on the community, the family members, the war, and the seasons of North Dakota. This is a tale that will stay with you and fill you with satisfaction and gladness as well as sadness.

Notice: Strong sexual content