Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Svenska Rötter: Why Did They Leave? Where Did They Go? A Look at Swedish Emigration and Genealogy
7 PM
For a Zoom link to join the meeting, please email info@sahswm.org.
On March 8, Jill Pearson Reider presented a program about Swedish emigration at the Dewings Center in Leroy, Michigan, which was very well attended. She talked about the many reasons why people left Sweden as well as the many enticements to come to America. Detailed information was given about where in America the Swedes settled and when they came, with an emphasis on the places in Michigan where they settled.
Jill will be giving the same presentation via Zoom to the SAHS membership on Tuesday, May 20 at 7 PM. If you know of others who might be interested, feel free to let them know.
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Meet & Eat at The Sovengard
1232 Bridge St NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49504
6:30 PM
Please join us at The Sovengard for fun, food and fellowship. The Sovengard is known for their Nordic spirit and their Midwest farm to table food. Please check out the menu at Sovengard.com/menus. We hope to see you there!
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Swedish Reading Club: The Queen’s Fortune by Allison Pataki
7 PM
Our meeting will be held online using Zoom. For more information, including the link to join the meeting, please email info@sahswm.org.
“I absolutely loved The Queen’s Fortune, the fascinating, little-known story of Desiree Clary—the woman Napoleon left for Josephine—who ultimately triumphed and became queen of Sweden.”
—Martha Hall Kelly, New York Times bestselling author of Lilac Girls
As the French revolution ravages the country, Desiree Clary is faced with the life-altering truth that the world she has known and loved is gone and it’s fallen on her to save her family from the guillotine.
A chance encounter with Napoleon Bonaparte, the ambitious and charismatic young military prodigy, provides her answer. When her beloved sister Julie marries his brother Joseph, Desiree and Napoleon’s futures become irrevocably linked. Quickly entering into their own passionate, dizzying courtship that leads to a secret engagement, they vow to meet in the capital once his career has been secured. But her newly laid plans with Napoleon turn to sudden heartbreak, thanks to the rising star of Parisian society, Josephine de Beauharnais. Once again, Desiree’s life is turned on its head.
From the lavish estates of the French Riviera to the raucous streets of Paris and Stockholm, Desiree finds herself at the epicenter of the rise and fall of an empire, navigating a constellation of political giants and dangerous, shifting alliances. Emerging from an impressionable girl into a fierce young woman, she discovers that to survive in this world she must learn to rely upon her instincts and her heart.
You can buy the book online at Schuler’s, or at a 20% discount in the store.
Next Book:
October 21: Big In Sweden by Sally Franson