The Legacy of Ida Lillbro%C3%A4nda

An immigrant woman finds broader horizons in America in this warmhearted family history. Empie (Minding a Sacred Place) recounts her grandmother Ida's journey from a Swedish enclave in western Finland in 1893 and her life as a farmer's wife in Washington's Skagit River Valley. The first part of the book is an epic of genealogical sleuthing that introduces the author to long-lost relatives and Finland's haunting midsummer twilight. The rest is an exegesis of family lore drawn mainly from her Aunt Leona's lively memoirs. (There's a scrapbook feel to many passages, as the author sprinkles in recipes, news reports, and a bookshelf catalogue.) There are flashes of adventure%E2%80%94Leona is a witness in a kidnapping case%E2%80%94and tragedy, when Ida loses a son to drowning and a grown daughter to a grisly car crash. Mostly, though, it's a quiet story of happiness achieved through hard work and love, fleshed out with Empie's thorough research on everything from transatlantic travel to the feminist stirrings that the assertive, forward-thinking Ida welcomed. Written with an affectionate sense of place and character, Empie's recreation of Ida's world offers shrewd insights into her life and times. Photos.