Sister Lumberjack

• Title:       Sister Lumberjack
• Author:   Candace Simar
• Website: https://candacesimar.com/
• Publisher: North Star Press of St. Cloud
• Publication Date: April 16 2024
• Language: English
• Paperback: ‎ 448 pages
• ISBN-10: ‎    168201150X
• ISBN-13: ‎    978-1682011508
• Genre:        Historical Fiction

Book Description (From Amazon.ca)

Bottle fever has Nels Jensen by the throat. Swindled out of his summer’s pay, he heads to the logging camps of Northern Minnesota, only to discover he is blacklisted at reputable operations. He is neither a thief nor a liar, but he cannot prove his innocence. Widow Solveig Rognaldson is left alone with heartache and a mortgage. Without a well-paying job, she will lose her Foxhome farm. Her son marries and moves away. Though she feels too old, she musters courage to strike out on her own. She has to save the farm by herself. She has no one else. Trouble follows Sister Magdalena, a jolly nun who struggles with rules. A giant of a woman, she is sent to sell hospital tickets to lumberjacks working the forests of Minnesota. It is dangerous work, and those with a ticket receive free health care if they are injured. She travels alone to isolated logging camps in the dead of winter, sometimes by snowshoes. The jacks call her Sister Lumberjack. These three lives intersect at Starkweather Timber, a haywire logging camp, where everything goes wrong. Their unique friendship turns their lives in unexpected directions.

My Thoughts

Solveig Rognaldson’s husband passed away and her son, who she thought would help on the farm married and moved to the city. Solveig is beside herself. She needs to make money in order to keep the farm. She has to find the courage to get a job and become self-sufficient. She is so disappointed with her son.

Sister Magdalena is not your typical sister. She finds herself looking for purpose, something she sees the others doing. When she realizes she needs some freedom, she comes up with the selling hospital tickets to the lumberjacks and is all traveling the woods of Minnesota.

Nels Jensen has a drinking problem and finds himself black balled in the logging camps. The only place that will have him is Starkweather. Not the greatest camp but hopefully they take him.

This is a new to me author and I am not disappointed. I am usually not a historical fiction reader but this had enough of a story line to keep me intrigued. The details for that time period are spot on. The characters are so relatable. It is incredible how the three main character’s stories come together. It is not an easy feat. I do have to say, I never expect who Sister Lumberjack was. It surprised me! This is a longer novel but feel it was needed to bring the storyline full circle. I would highly recommend this novel if you love historical fiction. Well done!

Rating: 4

Reviewed by: KellyR