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by Terry Stroot (Author)
Follow the adult life of Gustava, a bright-eyed Swedish farm girl who marries early and struggles to carve a purpose-filled, joyous life for herself in the late 1800s.
When Gustava was 17, an older boy took a liking to her and asked for her hand. Almost immediately, Gustava felt like she was walking on Cloud 9-Anders Johnson wanted her over every other girl in the town. Despite being the first man she'd met off of her family's farm, she felt she'd find happiness within the family they'd build together.
However, after two children, Anders became all but absent from Gustava and the kids' lives. His "harmless" flirting with younger girls in the family's corner store turned to infidelity.
Gustava's saving light became her younger brother Frans' visits. They could talk about anything and everything-including what a better life would look like for them both.
When Anders' father passed from illness, he completely turned his back on his family, leaving his wife and two children (now teenagers) behind. Gustava had next to nothing left for her in the town, and when Frans decided to move to America, she wondered if it might be the right choice for a fresh start for herself, as well.
Through heartbreak, loss, love, and the strength within familial bonds, Gustava and Frans find happiness and hardship together in a strange new land. Discover the deeply-emotional story of their lives, and the lives of those around them, in Westside Tigers: Age of Innocence.
