The Long Journey Home

The place: A backwoods town named Obeege, hidden away like a dirty little secret deep in the woods of Minnesota, a stone's throw from Canada.

The French-Canadians, who strayed over the border and still spoke with the dialect of their mother tongue, and the Norwegians, not long off the boat, formed a deep current of animosity that ran strongly through this volatile populace.

Despite the fighting and fornication that distressed both priest and pastor, romance between the two warring factions flourished within the younger generation and muddied the gene pool, or so thought their parents.

This is the story of a dispute between the Norwegian Torgersons, a dominant family of three generations, and the French-Canadian sheriff, Charbeneau. Then there was Fritz, the amiable white-haired man who owned Fritz's Bar, the meeting place where a man could get drunk in peace or stay reasonably sober and enjoy a shot of moonshine and talk politics. Helmer, the town drunk, seemed to know all the goings-on in the town and relished in relaying any news to Fritz, usually while bargaining for another drink.