

They pack up all their belongings and book passage in a group with others from their parish. But after the death of their oldest child, she accepts her husband's plans when she realizes that they are in just as much danger from their lives in Sweden as on the big sea and in a New World. Karl Oskar and his brother Robert want to go, but Kristina doesn't want to leave her home country, knowing that she will never see the rest of their family again. They have four children and work hard to make a living, but the poor harvests lead to famine, a catalyst for the beginnings of emigration to the United States in search of a better life. Karl Oskar Nilsson and his wife, Kristina, own a farm in Ljuder socken in Småland. The first part of the novel describes the hardships faced by rural families in Sweden. The story takes place in the 1840s up to 1850. It is the first part of The Emigrants series.

The Emigrants ( Swedish: Utvandrarna) is a novel by Vilhelm Moberg from 1949.
