Papa's Wife

"Another I Remember Mama—and with something added.... From Lapland to America, this family chronicle moves with its spiritual song of triumph. Here is story-telling—yes, romantic story-telling, too—at its most convincing best."

—Dr. Daniel A. Poling, editor, The Christian Herald

One day just after the turn of the century, a blonde, blue-eyed young girl named Maria presented herself at the door of the parsonage in a tiny town in Swedish Lapland. She had come to apply for a housemaid's job and the handsome bachelor parson, Pontus Franzon, hired her on the spot. Maria was only sixteen, and Pastor Franzon over twice her age—but Maria was determined to become Mrs. Franzon. And she did. When Mama Franzon made up her mind to do anything, heaven and earth were powerless to stop her.

Papa's Wife is the delightfully fresh and unaffected story of the Franzons' life together over a long period of golden years, a life lit by love and limitless trust in God. It is true that Papa Franzon often reflected ruefully on his uncomplicated bachelor existence—especially when all eight of the children seemed to get into trouble at once—but Mama never failed to amaze and amuse him.

The childhood of the little Franzons in Lapland is a period of almost uninterrupted joy for all the family—except Mama. She had been to America and knew that only there could she ever hope to educate her large brood in the manner they deserved. Lightly and deftly, she dropped hints, sent for folders, taught her children to sing "America"—and, of course, Papa gave in.

The final section of this charming book is devoted to the Franzons in New England—the new parsonage, their new friends, their troubles with the language and, inevitably, the gradual dispersal of the family.

Papa's Wife is a warm, often funny, chronicle of a happy family, a wholesome and inspiring story. And the susceptible reader must be warned that wherever Mama Franzon went, the entire house soon smelled of the delightful odors of Swedish cooking; Papa's Wife is a story with the same appealing, old-fashioned fragrance.

—from the dust jacket

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In Papa's Wife, Thyra Ferre Bjorn tells a touching story inspired by her own family, her own father, and especially her own mother. Papa was an upright, old-fashioned, principled pastor of a small church in northern Sweden, handsome and eloquent, but resolutely a bachelor. His dream was to have a large bank account. Mama was the maid who cleaned his house and secretly dreamed of marrying him. Eventually, Mama got her way (as she always did). Their life together was happy and rich with the kinds of treasures that really matter, though Papa had days when he could not quite forgive this spirited, determined woman for coming into his peaceful life and making him ten instead of one.

The book is the story of a family. It tells of the amusing antics and humorous scrapes of children and the things they must learn about life as they grow up. It tells of their immigration from the mountains of Sweden to small-town America and contains humorous anecdotes about their attempts to learn a new language and new customs. At its heart, though, it is the story of a woman: a wife and a mother who pours her love, her prayers, and herself into her husband and her children.

One of our family's long-time favorites (it was the only book we took on our honeymoon), Papa's Wife is a delightful read and a hard one to forget.

Review by Eli Evans
Formerly home educated and now father of five, Eli loves discovering amazing books, new and old, and is an artistic curator at heart. The owner and manager of Exodus since 1998, his focus is on offering thoughtful and well-written books that inspire the imagination and promote creativity and diligence while living for God. Read more of his reviews here.