In the wilds of early-twentieth-century Duluth, Minnesota, the orphan son of a immigrant woman tries to build a life for himself and the woman he loves.

Ensconced within a Hudson Valley retreat where expectant birth mothers are given luxurious accommodations and lucrative rewards to produce perfect babies, a Filipino immigrant is forced to choose between a life-changing payment and the outside world.

Nilda Carlson and her younger brother Ivar come to America to join her older brother Rune and his family on the Strand farm in Minnesota. Uncle Einar Strand refuses to help Rune build a house for his family and forbids the community to come onto his land. Can the tragedy that reveals Einar's anger and isolation bring the Carlsons and Strands together into a true family?

From National Book Award-winning, New York Times-bestselling author Louise Erdrich, a profound and enchanting new novel: a richly imagined world "where butchers sing like angels." Having survived World War I, Fidelis Waldvogel returns to his quiet German village and marries the pregnant widow of his best friend, killed in action. With a suitcase full of sausages and a master butcher's precious knife set, Fidelis sets out for America. In Argus, North...

Minnesota, 1911. Nilda Carlson is torn between life in the city of Blackduck and spending time with her family back home on the farm. Her employer, Mrs. Schoenleber, gives her more and more responsibility and experience. Still new to America herself, Nilda focuses on the area's immigrant community, but she'll have to fight to get her ideas accepted by the locals and donors alike. One of her greatest joys is her weekly piano lesson with Fritz Larsson....