Accidental Shepherd
A summer job turns serious when a young woman takes the reins on a remote farm—and learns far more than how to herd sheep.
In May 1972, Liese Greensfelder arrived in the small Norwegian town of Øystese to startling news: Johannes, the farmer who had hired her for a summer job, had just been hospitalized after a stroke. Could she please watch over his place for a month or so, until he got back on his feet? Twenty years old and with no farming experience, Greensfelder was dropped off the next day at a centuries-old mountain farm at the end of a dirt road high above Norway’s magnificent Hardanger Fjord—with 115 sheep, two cows, one calf, a draft horse, and a Norwegian herding dog to care for.
Accidental Shepherd is the story of her yearlong struggle for the survival of this place, even as she clashed with the owner himself. For she soon learned that Johannes was a heartless man who had alienated his neighbors and neglected his buildings and equipment for decades in favor of an obsessive hobby: a botanical garden bursting with ferns and alpine plants.
Praise for Accidental Shepherd
“Liese Greensfelder’s exciting and unexpected adventure in Norway moved a whole nation when she first shared her story in 1975. Now a new generation will be inspired to take a journey that might change their lives forever. I loved Accidental Shepherd—I laughed, I cried, and I will carry this young woman’s heroic tale with me always.”
—Camilla Flaatten, travel journalist, Aftenposten, Oslo
“Accidental Shepherd keeps an open, smart, frank tone, and Liese Greensfelder’s good humor working through problems shines. The farm animals come wonderfully through—especially the sheep and difficult lamb birth. She offers a good balance of light and dark with lots of enlightening detail.”
—Gary Snyder, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, author, and essayist
“Finally the real, rural Norway, with language lessons to boot. Liese Greensfelder creates a cast of characters—and animals—that show how Nordic life has persevered over the centuries. … Her stories of farm life along the fjord make her a Norwegian James Herriot.”
—Eric Dregni, author of For the Love of Cod: A Father and Son’s Search for Norwegian Happiness
“Liese Greensfelder’s vivid writing transported me into the heart of a community still relying on sustainable, grass-based farming practices handed down through generations. Her story of the triumphs, catastrophes, elation, and heartbreak she experienced there will keep you reading to the end.”
—Craig McNamara, farmer and author of Because Our Fathers Lied: A Memoir of Truth and Family, from Vietnam to Today
“A real-life adventure story set in the wilds of Norway. … This gritty memoir is a testament to the resilience of an outsider who not only made her way in a patriarchal society but also became a Norwegian celebrity.”
—Kirkus Reviews
About Liese
Liese Greensfelder grew up in Northern California, hiking the trails of Mt. Tamalpais and the Sierra Nevada. She lived in Norway for three years, where she ran a farm, studied at ag school, and worked in the crew’s mess hall aboard a Norwegian coastal freighter.
With a B.S. and M.S. in plant sciences, and a master’s certificate in science communication, she has written hundreds of articles in science, engineering and medicine. She and her husband live off-grid in a 5-household cooperative in the Sierra Nevada foothills, where all members jointly manage their 120-acre forested parcel for old-growth habitat.
Feature photo: Steiner Døsvik. Book cover: Erik Berglund/Bergens Tidende. Liese and Inger at spinning wheel: Aage Storløkken for Aktuell, Courtesy of NTB. Author portrait: Tor Erickson.