A Song of Joy

Summary

Surrounded by Opportunity, She Will Have to Choose a Path

In Minnesota in 1911, Nilda Carlson is torn between life in the city of Blackduck and spending time with her family back home on the farm. Her employer, Mrs. Schoenleber, gives her more and more responsibility, including leading an exciting new philanthropy project to help the area’s immigrant community. Nilda tries to focus on raising money to build affordable homes for Blackduck’s newcomers, but a private detective in town keeps stirring up trouble.

Nilda also finds herself distracted by her piano lessons with the handsome schoolteacher, Fritz Larsson, and she looks forward to his increasingly frequent visits to Blackduck. The more she learns about him, the more she admires him. Except the man who wants to court her isn’t Fritz, but a young man from Minneapolis whose wealthy background feels like a foreign world to her. With a detective digging into her past and a rich dandy vying for her hand, Nilda must decide what future she will choose for herself.