There are no biblical words for the deeds of mothers, despite the fact that they are probably of greater importance than those of fathers.
This arresting premise to Mariann Fredriksson’s 1994 novel had me hooked, as it did countless other women in the author’s native Sweden and Germany. After the first generation of hardship, however, I lost interest in this bestseller, finishing only out of a sense of commitment and diminishing hope that it would return to its early promise. It was as if the author herself lost interest half-way through and couldn’t muster the energy to pad the outline, which likely explains why I couldn’t find any film adaptations or English subtitled author interviews.
Chronically the lot of women from King Oscar II’s reign at the end of the 19th Century, when the rural impoverished lived in neo-feudal dependence on their wealthy employers, to the modern era of Social Democracy and Feminism, this story navigates such hotbed issues as rape, domestic abuse and dependence, infidelity, miscarriage, abortion, in-laws, and aging. It’s about love, loyalty, and coffee, coffee, coffee. So much coffee, in fact, that I expected Mrs. Olson from the Folger’s commercials to make a cameo appearance. It didn’t help that the three generations narrating alternating chapters backward and forward in time have maddeningly similar names: Johanna, Hanna, and Anna—such that it was sometimes hard to follow the thread.
If you are of Swedish or Norwegian heritage or your ancestor was a miller, you will likely appreciate it. If you’re looking for answers to the eternal question of daughterly fealty, however, you will find no challenges or answers here.