The Reindeer of Chinese Gardens - by Barbara Sjoholm (Paperback)

About the Book

A historical novel of friendship, love, loss, and motherhood set among Norwegian and Chinese immigrants in the Pacific Northwest, telling the story of Dagny Bergland, a remarkable woman who learns to steer a new course in a new country.

Book Synopsis

1897. Norwegian-born Dagny Bergland and her husband Captain Edvard Bergland have arrived by sea with their foster son Kjell, looking to settle in Port Townsend, Washington, a once-thriving port city at the entrance to Puget Sound. Dagny begins a series of journals she'll keep on and off for the next ten years. A would-be journalist, she tells the story of the Yukon Gold Rush and how Port Townsend once again bursts into life. She records how Chinese immigrants are smuggled across the strait from Victoria, British Columbia, to work as servants and farmers at Chinese Gardens. She chronicles how she takes in one of the smuggled migrants, Henry Soon, to work for her. She relates how both Kjell and Edvard end up in Alaska, one as a gold digger and the other captaining ships filled with prospective miners. Dagny also is witness to a little-known story in American history: the arrival of around 100 Sámi reindeer herders and 500 reindeer from Lapland to Seattle and Port Townsend on their way to Alaska. The Sámi were hired to transport supplies to the Yukon to relieve the starving miners. While most of the men go immediately to Haines, Alaska, the women and children stay at Fort Townsend. Dagny's friendship with Elle-Ristina Aikio, like her relationship with Henry, is one that will end up changing her life. A novel of friendship, love, loss, and motherhood, The Reindeer of Chinese Gardens is the story of a remarkable woman who learns to steer a new course in a new country.

Review Quotes

Through the journals of Dagny Bergland, Barbara Sjoholm has given voice to the challenges of immigration from a variety of viewpoints - Norwegian, Chinese, Sami. Their stories are complex, touching, sometimes tragic. It is above all, a story of America and what it means to be assimilated into American culture and geography.

Sjoholm is an experienced writer and gifted storyteller, eloquent on the subject of Sámi prejudice and the poignant dilemma for all immigrants: Make a life for yourself in this new world, or surrender to the emotional pull of the old country? In that sense, the book tells a fascinating story of homesickness and prejudice. And while Dagny has her own demons ("Who does the past belong to and how do you mend the errors that you've made?"), she ends up being not just a survivor, but a humane model for all of us.

An engrossing novel that features a memorably strong, vibrant female character.

Kirkus Reviews

Centered by its forthright and resilient heroine, The Reindeer of Chinese Gardens balances the scope of an epic with a personal, nuanced perspective.

Foreword