Full disclosure. I go to the same ELCA church as Ms. Tucker, the daughter of the author and the editor of this collection. So take what I am about to say with a grain of salt.
Most, if not all, of these personal essays, reflections of a past way of life in Finland, were first printed in New World Finn, an English language newspaper that is sadly no longer with us. In these former newspaper columns, Ms. Putikka conveys a real sense of what life was like back in the Finland of her youth. There are tales of childish pranks, cooking traditional Finnish dishes, working the fields, and going to school. All of the stories are excellent in rendering a sense of a rugged, tough, difficult yet love-filled childhood. The only criticism I have is that because Ms. Tucker did not edit the content of the essays, sometimes there is a repetition of story or theme between the pieces. But that’s but a minor distraction, one that doesn’t detract significantly from the reading experience.
Overall, this is a nice memoir in snippets and yarns that anyone of Finnish heritiage or intereested in the old ways, will thoroughly enjoy. Four Stars out of Five.
Peace.
Mark
