Swedes in Kansas

Here is a wonderful series of books written by local author Linda Hubalek about homesteading the family farm. These autographed books can be ordered through our website. Considered historical fiction, these quality paperback books are age appropriate for everyone from age 9 to 99. Each book is autographed by the author, Linda K. Hubalek.

Although best known for her first book, Butter in the Well, Linda K. (Johnson) Hubalek has written ten books about Kansas pioneer women. Her writing career started in 1991 after her husband’s job transfer moved them to California. Homesick for her family and the farmland of the Midwest, she turned to writing about what she missed, and the inspiration was kindled thus to write about her ancestors and the land they homesteaded. What resulted was the Butter in the Well series, four books based on the Swedish immigrant woman who homesteaded the family farm near Bridgeport, Kansas, where Hubalek grew up. In her second series, Trail of Thread, Hubalek follows her maternal ancestors who traveled to Lawrence, Kansas in the 1850s. These three books relieve the turbulent times the pioneer women faced before and during the Civil War.

Planting Dreams, her third series, portrays Hubalek’s great-great-grandmother, who left Sweden in 1868 to find land in America. These three books trace her family’s journey to Kansas and the homesteading of their farm near Salemsborg, Kansas. After living in California and then Colorado, Linda and her husband, Verne, now live in Lindsborg, Kansas.