When Calls the Heart

[SPOILERS BELOW]
I'm not a fan of the description on the back of this book. ["Beth discovers that [Wynn] also has determined never to marry." Okay, we don't get to that part until page 164 (out of 221). It doesn't make sense for this information to be made known before reading it. To make things worse, for a portion of the book, we are supposed to believe that Wynn is already married (though it's obvious he isn't, even without the poor description, which brings me to my next point).

It was frustrating how naïve Elizabeth could be. [First she couldn't figure out that Higgins was planning on marrying her, despite his aggressive flirting. Then she took ridiculous precautions to protect herself from "wolves" -- they're animals; not zombies! show more Next she couldn't stand the mice in her house, but couldn't stomach any methods of getting rid of them. Then she couldn't figure out why a man named Wynn Delaney would have an interest in a child named Phillip Delaney. And when she finally realized that there was a family connection, she couldn't imagine any other connection between the two beside father and child. Like, she thought Wynn was married with children and flagrantly flirting with her in front of everyone in town including his wife, despite otherwise being a respectable man. How is it that she's so sensitive to flirting except when it came from Higgins, anyway?
[END SPOILERS]

Also, normally, I hate it when people complain about a book (or movie) being "preachy" because I feel like they're being overly sensitive and acting like they were tricked into reading a "Christian" book despite the fact that the description of the book was very open about the spiritual content. However, in the case of When Calls the Heart, "preachy" is an accurate description. Whether that's a bad thing or not, I don't know. I felt like it was a bit unnatural, like it switched to the author speaking directly to the reader instead of conversations within the story.

I did still enjoy it. Though I couldn't tell you why. I do love Wynn Delaney's name. There's one good thing. Haha. Doesn't it just roll off the tongue? Anyway, I'll continue the series, but there are other Janette Oke books I'd recommend rather than this one. show less

"I'm quite happy to meet your friends," I announced firmly, "but I do want to make one thing clear: I came west to teach, not to wed. Had I been interested in matrimony, I could have stayed in the East and found an acceptable spouse."

As a longtime fan of one of my all-time favorite authors, Janette Oke, I've had her Canadian West series in my sights for about a good two decades. After reading and enjoyng almost fifty of the books she's written and co-written over the years, it's more than fair to say that I came to When Calls the Heart with plenty of preconceptions and high expectations.

And I wasn't disappointed.

This prairie novel just happened to be first published the year I was born, and I found it to be a thorough pleasure: warm, show more humorous, sobering at times, and wrapped in faith. Even with the romantic storyline between young and cultured Elizabeth Thatcher and the Canadian Mountie Wynn Delaney, this tale isn't strictly a romance. Its primary focus is Elizabeth's adventure in tackling the challenge of a teaching position and a new life on the frontier.

Oh, I did feel that she becomes a bit too much of the damsel in distress after a point and cries more times than is interesting, but she does have ambition, compassion, and a backbone. And what's more, it was this author's blessed simplicity that I was looking for and found, as not all writers can write as simply and still manage to make the reader care and reflect. It's a gift.

I'm absolutely looking forward to reading the next book in this series, hopefully sooner than later. show less

I've never read a Janette Oke. My mother read Oke and since my mother read 90% Amish romance, I just thought Oke was an Amish romance writer. My friend informed me I was incorrect and that Oke wrote "prairie romance." She promptly gave me two books in The Canadian West Series, the first being [When Calls the Heart]. This is a historical romance set in the 1900's somewhere in Coal Valley in Alberta. Elizabeth left her wealthy home to "follow her dream" of teaching on the frontier. She endures the hardships quite well. She also makes a friend in the Canadian Mountie, Wynn. Reminds me of Little House on the Prairie only in a coal town. Sweet and cute, but not overly so. Will at least read book two at sometime. 228 pages

Prompted by a request from the brother she barely knows, Elizabeth travels west to teach only for it to turn into an even more rustic experience than she’d bargained on.

I liked seeing Elizabeth figuring out this new life on her own, setting up her home, and dealing with everyday challenges she wasn’t accustomed to but at the same time it seemed like a strange choice to spend so much time showing the struggle with the mice while too often being told about her students rather than truly being shown those interactions. Dialogue is generally one of my favorite aspects of any book and so for me, there wasn’t enough of it here, there were too many instances of Elizabeth recounting what had happened rather than feeling like you were in show more the moment with her.

I enjoyed the chemistry between Elizabeth and Wynn, however, I felt like the development of their relationship was squandered by having so much of it caught up in a misunderstanding, especially since it was pretty obvious that Elizabeth misunderstood the situation, I don’t imagine many readers will fall for her having a correct read on things. It seemed awfully convenient that it would take so long for the truth to slip out in conversation given that she was friendly with neighbors who knew Wynn, her brother and sister-in-law also knew Wynn, and as a teacher so attuned to her students you’d think she would have had a deeper conversation with/about a particular student (who received special attention), and that would have led to the student or Wynn just naturally revealing the truth.

Unfortunately even when the romance finally did move beyond the misunderstanding phase, then came a lie from Elizabeth that was not a big deal yet her response to it was so melodramatic, combine that with a rush to wrap up the romance in time for the end, and this relationship that had felt so promising in the beginning just didn’t meet my expectations.

I understand the appeal of this book to the many who love it, the sense of community and the kindness within that community, my issues with this are mostly personal preference stuff, I do think it’s a good story, it’s just the way that story was told, the execution of it, didn’t quite work for me. show less

This was a cute love story. But it was also a really fascinating story about a girl surviving in the West. Trying to start schools, rally support for struggling families and fighting off the men who just want to wed her (because she can't possibly want to work and be independent). I like her strength and I liked her loyalty and sweet shyness.

Very clean and wholesome; When Calls the Heart follows a young proper woman who travels to the Canadian West to teach in a one room schoolhouse near her half brother. Instead of getting to stay with her brother however she is given an outpost over 100 miles away. She has to learn to fend for herself, manage kids who have never had schooling, and try not to get too lonely. She finds herself looking forward to seeing a strapping young man but when she finds out he's the father to one of her students she's a little heartbroken. She relies on her faith and her family to make it through the loneliness and doubt. i really like the setting and it's a quick and light read perfect for all ages.

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 show more 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 show less