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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really torn between 4 and 5 stars for this book. It was awfully good - though not transcendent. It's about a 16-year-old girl who leaves Boston in 1907 for Calgary, in the hopes that the clean dry air will help her pleurisy. She meets and marries a Mountie who takes her off to the far North. Great characters, fantastic descriptions. The book was written in the 40s, but unlike a lot of books from that time, it isn't overly sentimental, and the author doesn't telegraph what's coming. (You turn a page and BOOM! you're blindsided!)
It has been many years since I read this book and yet I still think about it so often. I have recommended it to so many women that I know, as it is such a compelling and heartfelt tale of the struggles of just being a woman. I am normally not a huge romance reader, but this book will forever be in my heart and remind me of what a gripping love story should be. Forever one of my favorite stories.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I am torn on how I feel about this book! It was so good, but so sad.
Audiobook narrated by Kirsten Potter.
In 1907, Katherine Mary O’Fallon is only sixteen when she moves to her uncle’s ranch outside Calgary, Alberta from her home in Boston. She suffers from pleurisy and it is thought the clean air of Canada will be better for her. It’s a very different world from the big city life she is used to, but she finds friendship and love, and eventually marries the local Sergeant of the Canadian Mounted Police, Mike Flannigan. Together they travel much farther north, where they live among a few settlers, trappers, and miners, and the native tribes of the area.
This is a novel, but it is based on the real life story of Katherine Mary O’Fallon. It’s a great adventure story, love story, and pioneer story. The young couple endure several misadventures and tragedies, including wildfires, floods, and epidemics of diphtheria and influenza. It is their deep love for one another that sees them through, as well as their willingness to understand the cultural mores of the Indians and adapt to, or at least tolerate, their differences.
There are some wonderful scenes describing the joys of family life, and of nature. I also really appreciated the even-handed (if somewhat paternalistic) way their relationships with the native peoples were revealed. I really came to love Kathy from the brash teenager, rushing headlong into adventure, and refusing to let anyone tell her anything to the maturing young woman who gains an understanding of and appreciation for the native culture, becomes a mother and faces loss.
Kirsten Potter does a wonderful job narrating the audiobook. Her pacing is good, conveying a sense of danger or serene solitude as appropriate to the story. She really brings Kathy to life.
In 1907, Katherine Mary O’Fallon is only sixteen when she moves to her uncle’s ranch outside Calgary, Alberta from her home in Boston. She suffers from pleurisy and it is thought the clean air of Canada will be better for her. It’s a very different world from the big city life she is used to, but she finds friendship and love, and eventually marries the local Sergeant of the Canadian Mounted Police, Mike Flannigan. Together they travel much farther north, where they live among a few settlers, trappers, and miners, and the native tribes of the area.
This is a novel, but it is based on the real life story of Katherine Mary O’Fallon. It’s a great adventure story, love story, and pioneer story. The young couple endure several misadventures and tragedies, including wildfires, floods, and epidemics of diphtheria and influenza. It is their deep love for one another that sees them through, as well as their willingness to understand the cultural mores of the Indians and adapt to, or at least tolerate, their differences.
There are some wonderful scenes describing the joys of family life, and of nature. I also really appreciated the even-handed (if somewhat paternalistic) way their relationships with the native peoples were revealed. I really came to love Kathy from the brash teenager, rushing headlong into adventure, and refusing to let anyone tell her anything to the maturing young woman who gains an understanding of and appreciation for the native culture, becomes a mother and faces loss.
Kirsten Potter does a wonderful job narrating the audiobook. Her pacing is good, conveying a sense of danger or serene solitude as appropriate to the story. She really brings Kathy to life.
A sequel to the popular Mrs Mike, this work of historical fiction is set primarily during World War II, and follows the career of a young Cree woman – Kathy (a/k/a/ Oh-Be-Joyful’s Daughter) – as she becomes an Army nurse and finds love and her place in the world.
I really liked Kathy Forquet as a heroine. Born to Cree parents, she was raised by a white family – Kathy “Mrs Mike” Flanigan is her adoptive mother. Because of her “white upbringing,” she has the advantages of an education that many other First Nation children don’t have, but she is keenly aware that she doesn’t fit in. Still, when WW 2 breaks out, she gathers her courage and heads out on her own to the big city of Montreal and nursing school. Throughout the book she struggles to balance the values she’s been taught, against the temptations she encounters. To find her true identity as a Cree Woman, an Army Nurse, and a Canadian. She remains open to new experiences. She develops a strong friendship with her roommate, a selfish and flighty (if wealthy and well-connected) girl. She finds love – twice; suffers heartbreak; finds courage and tenacity under attack.
In some situations, her status as a First Nation or aboriginal person all but disappears. But in this time period, it is seldom completely set aside. At times she finds herself ill prepared to face the subtle prejudices that are always present. And yet … she has a steel spine, standing up to bullies and insisting on doing the right thing, even if it means losing a friend.
The authors are not First Nation people, and there’s little information about how they came to write this story. I’m skeptical about the truth of what they write, and still I’m drawn into the novel. It’s an inspiring and hopeful story.
I really liked Kathy Forquet as a heroine. Born to Cree parents, she was raised by a white family – Kathy “Mrs Mike” Flanigan is her adoptive mother. Because of her “white upbringing,” she has the advantages of an education that many other First Nation children don’t have, but she is keenly aware that she doesn’t fit in. Still, when WW 2 breaks out, she gathers her courage and heads out on her own to the big city of Montreal and nursing school. Throughout the book she struggles to balance the values she’s been taught, against the temptations she encounters. To find her true identity as a Cree Woman, an Army Nurse, and a Canadian. She remains open to new experiences. She develops a strong friendship with her roommate, a selfish and flighty (if wealthy and well-connected) girl. She finds love – twice; suffers heartbreak; finds courage and tenacity under attack.
In some situations, her status as a First Nation or aboriginal person all but disappears. But in this time period, it is seldom completely set aside. At times she finds herself ill prepared to face the subtle prejudices that are always present. And yet … she has a steel spine, standing up to bullies and insisting on doing the right thing, even if it means losing a friend.
The authors are not First Nation people, and there’s little information about how they came to write this story. I’m skeptical about the truth of what they write, and still I’m drawn into the novel. It’s an inspiring and hopeful story.
I'm very conflicted on this book. It has two great main characters. The story of a young woman's new life in remote areas of Canada around the 1900s is told in such an engaging way - a la Little House on the Prairie or These is My Words. The part that makes this book very difficult to read is the extreme and pervasive racism throughout. I'm used to overlooking some outdated ideas when reading older books, but this is really too frequent to not interfere with the pleasure of reading it.