The Cotter's Son: A Story from Sigdal
H.A. Foss was born in Norway and emigrated to America when he was in his mid-20s. He lived in North Dakota's Red River Valley, Minnesota and Wisconsin before setting in Minot, North Dakota for the last 22 years of his life. "Husmannsgutten -- The Cotter's Son" was the first of six novels Foss wrote in his lifetime. Because he himself was the son of a cotter, Foss's story about Ole and Marie is considered one of the most accurate depictions of this lifestyle that prevailed throughout Europe until the late 1800s.