The Continental European immigrants who came to the United States during the nineteenth century faced problems not shared by their Anglo-Saxon counterparts. Though they came in search of a better life, prosperity and contentment often proved elusive, and many found themselves bewildered strangers in an alien land. Much of their personal identity was rooted in cultures they were forced to leave behind and could be expressed only in languages considered strange and uncongenial by Americans, who were bent on creating a society free of "decadent" old-world culture. Though many were able to adjust, alienation and disorientation took their toll on thousands who could not adapt. The Norwegian American writer O. E. Rölvaag was a compassionate and eloquent spokesman for these disenchanted dream seekers. He created a vibrant fictional world, using his own experience as an immigrant who lived fully in the New World but cherished his...