The Land They Possessed

By Mary Worthy Breneman

Young Michal Ward and her family arrive in the Dakota Territory in 1885. They have purchased a farm with a nice little house and John Ward will also sell farm equipment in the nearby town of Leola.
At first, things go well. They plant wheat and the crop looks real good. That is until a hailstorm comes along. And Michal's little baby brother suddenly dies of an infection. Battling contrary weather, disappointment and blizzards, the Wards soon leave the farm and move to Eureka, where John Ward once again sets up business. But this time, the family will be living in Eureka and no longer attempt to raise a crop in the iffy climate of the Dakotas.
Michal loved the prairie and she misses it and takes long walks into the countryside just to be close to nature, the grasses and flowers and fresh air. But living in town has its advantages too: friends and companionship and church and school.
The Dakota territory is filling up with immigrants, come to take advantage of land available to anyone willing to put in the time and effort to work it. Many of these immigrants in the Leola and Eureka area are Russian Germans, fleeing an unfriendly Russian regime. A cousin of Michal's best friend Katie is one Karl Gross and Michal is fascinated by him from the time she sees him in a photograph belonging to Katie's family.
But the Americans don't mix with or approve of these foreigners. Her mother constantly asks Michal to stop being friends with Katie, also a foreign immigrant. But Michal doesn't understand her parents objections to foreigners or their snobbery. She stays friends with Katie and she is still attracted to the foreign, remote and aloof Karl. This attraction remains strong all through her teen years and Karl seems attracted to her too. But the opposition of their families keeps them apart and Michal eventually agrees to marry the son of a local lawyer. But in her heart she knows she will never love him like she loves Karl.

This book was first published in the 1950s. It is kind of a cross between the Little House stories of Laura Ingalls Wilder and a romance novel. It's a taste of life on the prairie with an intriguing romance that keeps the reader guessing until the very end. Michal ends up being torn between two worthy men, and having to figure out whether she will follow her heart and please herself and disappoint two families or do what she is expected to do and live a life of comfort and wealth and sophistication. It's a really fascinating story and I enjoyed it very much.