Spring Came on Forever

by Bess Streeter Aldrich

Book Overview

Acclaimed for her 1928 novel A Lantern in Her Hand, Bess Streeter Aldrich became one of the most widely read interpreters of the prairie pioneer experience. In 1935, she published her masterpiece, Spring Came on Forever, a novel of two Nebraska pioneer families from settlement to the 1930s. Elsewhere an artist of the romance, here Aldrich turns romance on its head. The heroine is Amalia Holmsdorfer, one of a band of German immigrants...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803259077
• ISBN13: 9780803259072
• Release Date: February 1985
• Publisher: Bison Books
• Length: 333 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

the sweetest, and yet the saddest

I could've cried over this book. What teen girl who loves heartbreakers wouldn't?(besides me? i've only cried over one book but shhh. don't tell. this book should be cried over). Aldrich wrote this book to touch hearts, I can see that already! This book was so sweet, and through it all, I just wanted to cry thinking how Mathias and Amalia were able to put their short, yet sweet romance behind them. Anyway, Mathias was working in the shop one day, when his future "kliene taub,"(little dove) walks in. Her name is Amalia, and she is the most beautiful thing that Mathias had ever seen. Instantly, the two are in love. Mathias calls on her every Sunday after that, even after he discovers that Amalia is unhappily betrothed to someone else. Well, just when they descide to tell her father, Amalia's Luthren family takes her west, leaving Mathias in Illinois. The two are heartsick with their broken romance. Mathias goes west after her, but comes too late, for she is already wed, and he doesn't even know where she is. But, just because the romance is broken, doesn't mean the love is. The two go on loving each other throughout the rest of their lives, even though they haven't seen eachother since those earlier days, and even though they find others to love along the ways. This was a truly sweet story, and beautifully written.

An interesting tale of early settlements in Nebraska

I have just re-read "A Lantern in Her Hand" and wanted to read more by this author.This is a wonderful story of how the Middle West was settled with hope, dreams and a lot of hard work. I think feminists should read this book to see how real women worked in the settlements of the Plains states. There were many hardships, but they kept going.My great-grandparents lived at approximately this time and homesteaded in Iowa. It was like reading their story.I especially enjoyed the stories of the different families and how they did during the generations. The ending was nice altho it was disappointing that Amalia's and Matthias's moment passed by.

My life has been long and wondrous but I recall this book.

A heavy reader, I have excellent recall but there is one book I read in my teens which I have always looked for and could not find. I am happy to be able to order it here.It is a story of simple young love which is thwarted by a number of societal rules...and as we watch the two parallel lives unfold, we are startled, near the end, to watch them pass one another again...our emotions never recover. That is why I must read it again as I ender old age myself.

Wonderful Discovery

This book is a delightful and enchanting story

Charming, at once heartbreaking and heartwarming portrait

I first read this book as an almost high school freshman; it stayed with me through the years and I had to 'find' it again through the same library almost 30 years later. The story has not lost any of its power and charm; the love and constancy of Amalia and Matthew for each other, and their ability to carry on despite separation, hardship and heartbreak is still a strong story. The story is a thorough, clear picture of the life of a settler, when what we now call the midwest was wilderness. Duty, the greater good of the community, just getting to the end of the day/planting season/year was an accomplishment. To do this well, with honor and simple love, carries the lead characters through. When they separate, in spite of all their intentions to stay together, your heart almost breaks, yet cheers for them as they continue. When they are 'almost' brought back together, I smiled at the irony and justice of this beautiful example of the full 'circle of life.'