Accidental Shepherd | Liese Greensfelder

The subtitle of this book is "How a California Girl Rescheded an Ancient Mountain Farm in Norway." It's a memoir published in 2024, by Liese who went to Norway as part of a 1972-era youth work program. Liese had spent some time in Denmark so she thought it wouldn't be too hard to pick up Norwegian and off she goes. Just as she's arriving, she discovers that the farmer she's assigned to just had a stroke and she is given "full authority" to run the farm. Ok, great, but she didn't know the first thing about farming and, it turns out, the locals there speak a pretty distinct regional accent and the language doesn't come as easy as she'd hoped.

Liese was thrown into a very challenging situation (hence the "accidental" part) and is able to learn quickly and get help from her neighbors in ways that, quite literally, save her life and the lives of animals in her care. IHer host farmer's health takes a longer time than she (and he) expected so she extends her stay. And to add to the drama, the farmer is an incredibly unpleasant sort of man. It's a great story of initiative and tenacity and flexibility to get along in a community and country that's rather hard to navigate.

I've read a number of memoirs lately, and I was interested in this one in that it was written at a time much removed from the actual action. It was written in chronological order--start to finish--and was, I presume, based on journals Liese kept during her time in Norway. Liese was not a writer when she was in Norway (although her biography says that's her occupation now) and it's interesting to think about the difference between memoirs written by writers (How To Say Babylon, for example) and ones written by someone who experiences something extraordinary and learns how to write it down.

Liese didn't sugarcoat the trials and harrowing experiences, but she did give the whole story a kind of romantic, soft focus. Having come from Norwegian stock and having known only one bona fide Norwegian in my life, I was a wee bit skeptical of her descriptions of her warm and attentive neighbors. She definitely said they weren't huggers, though, which I'm sure is correct.

It's pretty fascinating to think that a young woman from her background, at that time, would go off on such an adventure. It also was a time without internet, email, cell phones or other things we take for granted. She was really out there on her own. I admired her bravery.