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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
Elizabeth is a young woman who moves from her city life, to a country one to make a living as a school marm. In the middle of finding her place in the town however, Elizabth comes across a mysterious man, that seems to never show his face around town. As Elizabeth pushes herself deeper into this man's background, she is forced to come face to face with him, while two questions are on the tip of her tongue. Who is this man and what is he doing in this town?
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This was a wonderful little book. I have read some of Janette Oke's books before and enjoyed them, so when I spotted this series I was excited to start reading it.
When Calls the Heart is the first book in Oke's Canadian West Series. It follows a main character of Elizabeth and is written in the first person from her perspective.
A school teacher back East, she travels to the West to begin a new school teaching job at the advice of her brother Jon. Before she learns of her assignment, the superintendent tries to woo her, and in failing to do so seemingly banishes her 150 miles North to the town of Pine Springs.
Determined to make the best of it, Elizabeth travels there and sets up her school. She is delighted to find that she has her own little home by the schoolhouse instead of boarding and also that her brother's handsome friend Wynn Delaney is also in residence at Pine Springs as well.
The children she teaches are mostly charming and her heart goes out to all of them in unique ways. She makes close friends with a family of immigrants nearby and these children frequently appear in the novel to help her out and spend time with her so she doesn't become too lonely on her own.
Another student in particular, a boy named Andy, is frequently sick but a favorite of hers and all the other children. Having been in an accident when he was quite young, he has trouble learning but is always positive and supportive of everyone else. When his sickness gets worse they raise money to send him to a doctor. This involves a fundraiser put on by Elizabeth and the schoolchildren.
During this fundraiser, Wynn, whom she now believes to be married, wins an auction for a lunch with her and she is so thoroughly embarrassed to be pursued by a "married" man that she sets forth a sequence of events to turn him down at every opportunity, despite secretly admiring him.
It is only when she discovers her mistake that she realizes her deep feelings for him and can only be saddened as he appears to love his job more than her. He is very particular to his job and does not feel that being the wife of a Mountie is anything he would do to someone he loves.
Oke, while being a Christian writer, does not get overly hard handed or preachy with her writing. While some references and scriptures may be written in, she prefers to lead by example; having her characters do acts of good rather than preach about them. This makes it easy for even those who are not very religious to read her books. Her writing, while not overly complex suits the romance genre just fine and you can connect to her characters as they seem like real people. They aren't just perfect characters that do whatever is right and good, they have flaws just like everyone else.
Oke also took the time to include a bit of history in this story which helps the reader to understand the background and setting of the novel. She elaborates on the town of Calgary and also of the Mounties as one of the main characters, Wynn Delaney, is a Mountie himself.
I really enjoyed the premise of this novel. Most often writers have the heroine just falling into the arms of their chosen man. Elizabeth is not like that. She is strong enough on her own and doesn't need a man, she only consents because she is truly in love, not dependent upon him. I feel that this shapes her character a lot better than if she had just stuck to regular romance and had Elizabeth completely infatuated with the man. It made the story more believable.
The only fault I would find with the novel is Wynn's quick change of heart at the end. While it was written to seem that he couldn't stomach the thought of being without her, due to his earlier convictions that were so strong, it just seems unlikely that he would change his mind so easily.
Janette Oke is a fantastic story teller and her novels reflect life on the early plains of Canada. They are a pleasure to read and are perfect for a lazy Sunday or rainy afternoon.
When Calls the Heart
Copyright 1983
220 pages
When Calls the Heart is the first book in Oke's Canadian West Series. It follows a main character of Elizabeth and is written in the first person from her perspective.
A school teacher back East, she travels to the West to begin a new school teaching job at the advice of her brother Jon. Before she learns of her assignment, the superintendent tries to woo her, and in failing to do so seemingly banishes her 150 miles North to the town of Pine Springs.
Determined to make the best of it, Elizabeth travels there and sets up her school. She is delighted to find that she has her own little home by the schoolhouse instead of boarding and also that her brother's handsome friend Wynn Delaney is also in residence at Pine Springs as well.
The children she teaches are mostly charming and her heart goes out to all of them in unique ways. She makes close friends with a family of immigrants nearby and these children frequently appear in the novel to help her out and spend time with her so she doesn't become too lonely on her own.
Another student in particular, a boy named Andy, is frequently sick but a favorite of hers and all the other children. Having been in an accident when he was quite young, he has trouble learning but is always positive and supportive of everyone else. When his sickness gets worse they raise money to send him to a doctor. This involves a fundraiser put on by Elizabeth and the schoolchildren.
During this fundraiser, Wynn, whom she now believes to be married, wins an auction for a lunch with her and she is so thoroughly embarrassed to be pursued by a "married" man that she sets forth a sequence of events to turn him down at every opportunity, despite secretly admiring him.
It is only when she discovers her mistake that she realizes her deep feelings for him and can only be saddened as he appears to love his job more than her. He is very particular to his job and does not feel that being the wife of a Mountie is anything he would do to someone he loves.
Oke, while being a Christian writer, does not get overly hard handed or preachy with her writing. While some references and scriptures may be written in, she prefers to lead by example; having her characters do acts of good rather than preach about them. This makes it easy for even those who are not very religious to read her books. Her writing, while not overly complex suits the romance genre just fine and you can connect to her characters as they seem like real people. They aren't just perfect characters that do whatever is right and good, they have flaws just like everyone else.
Oke also took the time to include a bit of history in this story which helps the reader to understand the background and setting of the novel. She elaborates on the town of Calgary and also of the Mounties as one of the main characters, Wynn Delaney, is a Mountie himself.
I really enjoyed the premise of this novel. Most often writers have the heroine just falling into the arms of their chosen man. Elizabeth is not like that. She is strong enough on her own and doesn't need a man, she only consents because she is truly in love, not dependent upon him. I feel that this shapes her character a lot better than if she had just stuck to regular romance and had Elizabeth completely infatuated with the man. It made the story more believable.
The only fault I would find with the novel is Wynn's quick change of heart at the end. While it was written to seem that he couldn't stomach the thought of being without her, due to his earlier convictions that were so strong, it just seems unlikely that he would change his mind so easily.
Janette Oke is a fantastic story teller and her novels reflect life on the early plains of Canada. They are a pleasure to read and are perfect for a lazy Sunday or rainy afternoon.
When Calls the Heart
Copyright 1983
220 pages
I really enjoyed this story and will be continuing with the series. It reminds me a lot of stories/TV shows like Sarah Plain and Tall, Christie and Dr. Quinn because the are set in the same time period and share the same basic story line. I know there was a TV movie made and a TV series on Hallmark. I look forward to watching them!
This book is quite fast-paced. That being said, it is extremely enjoyable in many ways. I personally was a big fan of the Love Comes Softly series, and when this was introduced into my life on television, I absolutely knew I needed to invest time in reading the novel. It shows a sweet, but innocent, perspective on falling in love, and how rumors are often trivial lies in disguise.
Some big notes about this book and me as a reader of it:
-I am not a Christian
-I like sex scenes in books (at a "bare" minimum, they don't upset me)
-I don't want to read books where the female main character reforms her potential partner (through conversion or otherwise)
-I don't want to read books where women's sexual desire is subverted into a love for God
This book was a sweetie of a book - although the main character was sometimes silly, she had many experiences not directly related to any man (or god), including building her "room of one's own": the descriptions of her house just delighted me.
I was interested in the historical description that opened the book and in some of the attributions made there (including a note about how a First Nations chief made a treaty with someone he knew to KEEP his promises - HONOUR THE TREATIES, guys).
Would read again and will likely dig up more of Janette Oke's work to see if it lives up to this book.
-I am not a Christian
-I like sex scenes in books (at a "bare" minimum, they don't upset me)
-I don't want to read books where the female main character reforms her potential partner (through conversion or otherwise)
-I don't want to read books where women's sexual desire is subverted into a love for God
This book was a sweetie of a book - although the main character was sometimes silly, she had many experiences not directly related to any man (or god), including building her "room of one's own": the descriptions of her house just delighted me.
I was interested in the historical description that opened the book and in some of the attributions made there (including a note about how a First Nations chief made a treaty with someone he knew to KEEP his promises - HONOUR THE TREATIES, guys).
Would read again and will likely dig up more of Janette Oke's work to see if it lives up to this book.
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One of the better hallmark books, just don’t watch the 6th season of the show please
After 3 seasons of the TV series, decided I should read the book it's based on. Based very loosely on... A refined young woman from a wealthy family takes a teaching position in a small town in the Canadian Rockies. A sweet story, especially when taken by itself, but not very much like the TV series!!