ISABELLE: Dakota Prairie Pioneer Wife and Mother
is an enchanted journey in creative nonfiction narrated from the perspective of the author's great-grandmother. When Ingeborg (Isabelle) Dahl was born in Arvika, Värmland County, Sweden, in 1851 and her parents softly held her for the first time, they could not have fathomed the joys and hardships awaiting their tiny daughter in a foreign land. Isabelle would grow up to be resilient beyond their wildest imaginings.
Author Mary Baird Mayer gracefully traces her ancestral roots into the frontier land where her family legacy and U.S. history meet. Tattered old letters and stories passed down over generations sparked this bold reimagining of Isabelle's life through the written word, portraying pioneer life in its simplicity, harshness and heart-opening humanity. Complete with golden touches of her sister's editing and design input from her granddaughter, Mayer's book is not only testimony to the wisdom of her adventurous heritage-it is proof that the love inherent in family bonds and women's voices transcends space and time.