A Song of Joy

Lauraine Snelling has an affinity for books about the Scandanavian immigrant.  Each story builds on a previous one and fills in a bit more about the characters. It makes the reader feel a part of the neighborhood.

Nilda Larsson works for Gertrude Schoenleber as her secretary and assistant.  Gertrude's brother doesn't feel that Nilda belongs in the board meetings of the family logging business, so he gets his son to court Nilda as a way of neutralizing Nilda's affect on the business.

At the same time another nephew of Gertrude's, named Fritz, spends his time being Nilda's friend and quietly courting her without being obvious about it. One of the talents Fritz has is playing piano and Nilda looks forward to his every visit so that she can have another lesson.

This book is a quietly, even-paced novel with well-written characters and deeply thought out settings. The reappearing characters get more depth and focus while the main characters shine like stars. I loved the way the plot played out in such a satisfying way.

This is a five star book, with two thumbs up, and a good report on your next piano lesson.

I want to thank Bethany House and NetGalley.com for providing the galley I read.