1837 - Rose Kleidon Osterman

In 1837: Love Among Strangers, the second of The Immigrant Chronicles, "Kleidon has done it again" (Steve Vogel, NYT bestselling author).

A riveting adventure novel, 1837 is also a poignant love story and a powerful exploration of the complex ties that bind a family . . . and a country. This is historical fiction at its best. 

Niklas and Katrina Kästner know what it feels like to be strangers. Still, just days after arriving in old New Orleans, they are shocked to meet a decades' old enemy, face the horrors of slavery for the first time, and learn about a terrifying "sick season." Meanwhile, their beautiful daughter takes New Orleans society by storm, and their eldest son dives into its seediest, most dangerous elements. 

When the family embarks on a riverboat up the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, new layers of secrets and dangers are revealed as they cross what was then the frontier, heading for a raucous boomtown in its infancy, Chicago. 

Based on the true story of her ancestors, 1837: Love Among Strangers is a the second of a series by Rose Osterman Kleidon. If you like your historical fiction deep, bracing, and true, Kleidon is sure to become your next favorite author.