Dust Yourself Off: The Gravel Road to a Good Life

In the classic and beloved fashion of a Sod and Stubble history,Dust Yourself Off tells a farmwife's story, decades later and from "Little Norway" on the northern plains. Born in 1921 on a farm near Fort Ransom, North Dakota, Muriel was a quintessential Norwegian American girl growing up in a place dubbed “Little Norway.” Her childhood was one part idyllic, another part marred by the Great Depression, which struck farmers like Muriel’s family during the so-called Roaring Twenties. Just as Muriel’s life began to seem typical of a North Dakota farmgirl, she was forced to leave home. Death and tragedy visited her regularly in the ensuing years. Time and again, she challenged the norms of what it meant to be a traditional farm wife in mid-20th century North Dakota. Muriel’s quiet yet bold courage inspired her son to share her story decades later. He found his co-author in a fellow North Dakota farm native. Together, Tom Sandhei and Tricia Velure tell a touching family story, rich in historical details and local color. Read more