Madelyne Camrud channels the storytelling spirit and tradition of valiant narratives, melding tones of landscapes, women, and men into a familial literary score that maps emotions on the expansive Dakota prairie. Labeled a book of songs, this poetry collection is a hymn to the adventurous European women who transplanted on the northern plains, in the aftershocks of ocean and continent crossings and their hyphenated-American daughters and daughters’ daughters born in successive generations. In four movements, Camrud acquaints readers with her Norwegian matriarchal line and the defining moments of those women’s lives and legacies. Readers encounter the joys and pains of aging parents abandoned, grieving widows sorrowing, lonely hired men and strong maids wanting, nosy neighbors prying, and desperate spouses wedding for survival.