Settlers of the Marsh describes the story of a dreamer, Niels Lindstedt, whose idealistic visions suffer a twisted fate even after investing all his physical strength and emotional longings towards his objectives. The author’s key point in the story is to depict an imperfect world where harsh conditions and unpredictable human nature turn dreams into nightmares and expectations into desolation.
The book opens up with the protagonist, Niels, who escapes poverty in his hometown in Europe and moves to Canada hoping to build a successful future for himself. His goal is to achieve a perfect life; marry a beautiful wife, have good kids, and build a mansion on a big piece of land. With his vision in mind, Niels works tirelessly day and night on his farm. His hard work and determination are rewarded with a bountiful harvest which he sells and saves them money. After years of toiling, Niels saves up enough money to build his mansion.
After the construction is complete, he sets off to achieve his other goal of marrying a good wife and starting a family. He makes advances on Ellen Amundsen, a girl he had been eyeing for a long time. To his dismay, Ellen refuses his marriage proposal and claims that she only seeks friendship and nothing more. Ellen suffers from the trauma of witnessing her mother suffer under the hands of her father, a brute who forced himself on his wife even when she was ill. When she got pregnant, he would force her to into an abortion which led to her death. Before she died, Ellen promised her mother that she would never get married which she reveals to Niels.
Disappointed and angry, Niels makes his way into town where he meets the seductive and more sexually aggressive Clara Vogel. Vogel takes advantage of Niels’s naivety and seduces him. After long visits to town, Niels marries Vogel. A few months into their marriage, Vogel learns Niels does not love her, instead, his heart belongs to another woman, Ellen. The couple begins to have regular fights. Niels, being the principled man he was does not ask for a divorce, instead, he moves out of his house and into Bobby’s shack.
Not long after he moves out does Vogel start entertaining late-night guests and turns Niels dream home into a brothel. In a blind rage, Niels storms into his house and kills Vogel. He is arrested and sentenced to ten years. However, due to his reputation and exemplary behavior, Niels is freed after six years. He goes home to only find that his hired hand, Bobby, Mrs. Lund, and Ellen have taken great care of his property. He applauds their loyalty and begs for Ellen’s forgiveness. After many years, Ellen has made peace with her past and now she wants to get married and have children. Grove concludes with a romantic finale with an aesthetically unpleasing injustice in a rather complex plot.
