“The Missing Son - A Faroe Island Saga”
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At long last, my book has been published!
The Missing Son - A Faroe Island Saga was released this week for publication. It can be purchased at www.createspace.com/3429237.
In November 1916, Hans Jacobsen took a job as a seaman on a ship leaving Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands, far north in the Atlantic Ocean. He never returned home. Some eighty years later, his daughter Jennifer Henke arrived in these islands, all alone and unannounced, hoping to discover her father’s homeland and family. In her luggage was a sheet of paper with the names of her father’s parents and brothers and sisters. She also carried a packet of letters from 1917-1924, written in Danish, and on the dateline of each letter was the word “Fuglefjord,” his home town.
The Missing Son – A Faroe Island Saga tells Jennifer’s story of discovering her father’s homeland and his family and finding “where the cradle stood.” The letters from his family reveal life on these remote islands during World War I and the years following and also give us a surprising love story – my father’s fiancée wrote to him for seven years, always hoping he would return to her. The Missing Son gives a glimpse into the pristine, wild, and picturesque Faroe Islands, from today and from a century ago.
Here is the Table of Contents.
Chapter 1 A Journey into the Past
Finding my father’s family in the Faroe Islands eighty years after he left home as a young sailor.
Chapter 2 Fuglafjørður History
A short history of my father’s family and his home town.
Chapter 3 Letters from the War Years, 1917-1919
Letters to my father from his parents, sister, and two brothers.
Chapter 4 Welcome
The warm welcome given me by my new-found family during my first few days in the Faroe Islands.
Chapter 5 Letters, 1920-1924
The last letters to my father from his family in the Faroe Islands.
Chapter 6 Getting Acquainted
Getting to know my cousins and seeing the spectacular Faroe Islands.
Chapter 7 Love Letters
A surprising love story – letters from my father’s fiancée in the Faroe Islands.
Chapter 8 Celebration and Farewell
The annual town festival and my last few days with my cousins.
Chapter 9 An Able-bodied Seaman
My father’s stories from his sailing days.
Chapter 10 Returning to the Faroe Islands
Return visits to the Faroe Islands with my brother and my husband.
Chapter 11 The Next Generation
My children visit the Faroe Islands.
Chapter 12 The Last Love Letters
The final love letters from my father’s fiancée.
Chapter 13 Epilogue
The end of the story.
Appendix I Sailing Records for Hans Jacobsen
Appendix II The Jacobsen Family Tree
July 18th, 2010 at 1:48 am
Dear Jennifer, I’ve just come across your website whilst idly googling some family names. I’m interested in obtaining a copy of your book which I will do soon. Your story intrigues me as it is so similar to that of my grandfather Peter Jacob Hansen. He was born in Thorshavn in 1891. Orphaned & went to sea in 1910, eventually settling in New Zealand in 1915. Married & had one son Bernard, my late father. No contact with family or Faroes until mid 1960s. It was an amazing turn of events which reunited us with 2nd & 3rd cousins.Gave us a sense of a homeland. All the best. My 94 year old mother has Alzeimers now. She would have been delighted to read a story such as yours. She & my dad visited the Faroes in 1985 as I had as a young man in 1969.
Sincerely
Peter J Hansen
55A Colenso Street
Sumner
Christchurch 8081
New Zealand