Hanna's Daughters: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

I enjoyed the book. At first I had trouble making head or tale out of it, but I kept reading. When I got to Hanna's story, that part made sense. I was a bit confused again when the midwife's name was Anna. I couldn't reconcile that with the first Anna in the book. After reading the Anna part before the Johanna story, I went back and started the book over again. Now it made sense. When I got to the Hanna part, I skipped that, since I had already understood that, and went to Johanna's story. We had already been introduced to her birth and the close relationship she had with her father. The rest of the book was straight forward and made sense. If it had been a true story of family research, it would have had a lot more importance, but as it is, a fictional account, it still was a thought-provoking read. I feel like I, as a Christian American woman, have a much happier and psychologically less complicated life than these Swedish women, no matter their generation. My paternal grandparents came to Minnesota from Sweden. Although she died when I was only seven, I remember my Swedish grandmother as being a cross, unhappy woman. I always thought her sour disposition was due to her accidental loss of a leg, but perhaps her unhappiness went deeper than that. At any rate, to whatever degree these three women were based on reality, they evoke my sympathy.

This is the stories of 3 women in Sweden; grandmother, daughter, granddaughter. Each was an interesting woman and I enjoyed learning about their lives in Sweden, I never really cared for them and found the book overall disjointed. It was not a waste to read, but would not rush to read it either.

The concept is a good one, and the sweep of history (roughly late 19th century to late 20th century)and Swedish socio-economic settings really contributed to the storyline. The book chronicles three generations of strong Swedish women and how their lives, attitudes, marriages and parenting change as they evolved from rural peasant through to highly educated writer/journalist. The first part of the book is written in third person and was more observational (showing rather than telling); I much preferred the second half, written in first person, which allowed more insight into the character's mind and more showing than telling. Strong themes about what it means to be a woman, wife, mother and friend in three different time periods. A Norwegian friend and a Swedish friend each agreed the book is highly accurate in its portrayal of Swedish women and society during the timespan covered. It made for an interesting book group discussion, and left many of us reflecting back on what life and choices available to our own mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers.

I learned so much about Norway and Sweden in this novel of 3 generations of women. Excellent development of characters.

Marianne Fredriksson's writing brings you to the craggy hillsides of Scandanavia, and connects you to the political strains between two contries during WWII, through the lives of three generations of women: Hanna, her daughter Johanna, and Hanna's granddaughter, Anna.Each successive generation is living a life affected by the history of her mother or grandmother, without ever knowing the geneological history which has shaped her.The way history affects our fears... family affects our trusts... countryside affects our loves...Wonderful! I passed it on to 4 people when I was done.

Though this book is about Swedish women and their relationships, it contained many universal truths. I would like to read more wriing by this author.

It was a great read to ready me for my trip to Denmark and Sweden – but I found the author's effort to parallel the struggles of 19th century rural Swedish women with modern Swedes a stretch. The historical presentation of the conflict with Sweden and Norway was very interesting and well done.

Great read about one family's history through the eyes and voices of the women who lived it and understanding grandmothers, mothers and daughters impact on each generation.

Great condition and it came on time.

Very good

Hannah and her daughters was a fascinating book that scanned three generations. It provided an insight into the lives of women in three generations. A good read.