Customer Reviews

When Calls the Heart

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have read most of Janette Oke's books, and this series is my favorite by far. The story takes place in a different setting from most Christian historical fiction (i.e., not the prairie), and with the first-person narration Elizabeth's voice shines through. If you are tired of finding the same plot in many books, try this series; the books do stand out. They are also laugh-out-loud funny in places.

I have read most of Janette Oke's books, and I must say that "When Calls the Heart" is really one of her best books. It is one of the few Janette Oke books I have actually enjoyed, without getting annoyed at the characters or finding historical inaccuracies.

The book's heroine, Elizabeth, travels to the western frontier to be a teacher. Her adventures are interesting and often humorous (but not outlandish) as she adapts from city life to frontier life. Of course, she meets a handsome Mountie and falls in love with him... Untypically, Janette Oke doesn't have them meet each other right away, and quickly marry them off; she allows Elizabeth to remain in suspense for quite some time and get to actually know Wynn (the Mountie) better. That is one thing I liked better about this book than other Janette Oke books- the characters were more realistic (on the whole) and they did not fall in love at first sight and want to get married right away. I liked that because it left the plot freer for other topics besides the characters' romance.

I must say, however, that one must not let the good reviews of "When Calls the Heart" to lead them into buying the other three books in the "Canadian West" series. They are not nearly as good as the first book. In fact, I highly suggest that you read "Mrs. Mike", by Benedict and Nancy Freedman, instead. "Mrs. Mike" is a true story, and when you compare it with the remainder of the Canadian West books, it is obvious where Janette Oke got much of her material for incidents and characters.

You'll enjoy "When Calls the Heart." I definitely did. The other three books aren't as good, but you can read "When Calls the Heart" by itself; it doesn't necessarily need sequels.

When Oke Engages My Heart, by Sara Larsen

Anyone that likes a quiet, sweet story about the experiences, joys, and sorrows of life from the perspective of a woman will love "When Calls the Heart" by Janette Oke. Oke effectively engages us and connects us to her protagonist by using strong characterization, sensory details, diction, and appeals to emotion.
On the first page of the novel, Elizabeth thinks to herself. "And how are you this delightful spring morning? I asked myself. Why, I am just fine, thank you, I silently answered, and then almost blushed as I quickly looked around for fear that someone might be able to read my thoughts." This is one of the first glimpses we get into the life of our protagonist. By developing the thoughts of her character and letting us into her brain, Oke has quickly helped us understand the personality of her character, and thus we become involved with the character on a more personal level. By connecting us to her character, Oke can then communicate messages, emotions, or ideas to us through her protagonist.
The powerful sensory details used by Oke when Elizabeth is spending her first night out in the Wilderness allow us to almost see what our protagonist sees and smell what our protagonist smells, thus inviting our sympathy and involvement. "...the tall grass had recently been cut but had been left to lie, browning where it fell. It smelled musty and insects buzzed busily about it...the riotous colors flamed out over the sky in shades that I had no words to describe..." (73) We get a glimpse into the newness of Elizabeth's experience by reading these sentences and can vividly picture the scene before her. Because of Oke's use of imagery, we feel as though we are experiencing Elizabeth's world because we have a detailed description of what her world is like, which is essential because then Oke is able to get us to feel what she wants us to feel.
Oke lets us know the terror that Elizabeth feels when she hears a sound that she's never heard before, and we become further engaged in the story because we can almost hear these sounds for ourselves and feel the heat on our faces because of the details used. "A wolf pack!...They had smelled new blood and were moving in for the kill...the sharp stubble of the grass and weeds bit into the palms of my hands, but I crawled on. Another howl pierced the night...the flames were robust now...I continued to feed the fire and huddle over it, coughing and crying into the woodsmoke." (74) We can imagine what is happening, almost feel the thorns in our own hands, and we also feel the same fear that Elizabeth does. Oke entices us, by using such imagery, to experience this with Elizabeth, to take an active part in the story and connect with her protagonist.
On the fourth page of the novel, Oke's carefully-chosen words effectively illustrate her characters when Elizabeth is describing her family; we are invited to see these characters as she sees them, thus aligning our point of view with our protagonist's. She uses words like "flighty one," "adventure-seeker," "the romantic," "silliness," "dainty," "pretty," "plenty of male attention," and "never enough" to describe her sister Julie. By using four rather short sentences with well-chosen words, Oke develops a single character, letting us get personally involved with her description. It is easy to paint in our minds an accurate, though unique, picture of Julie. But again, we see these characters through the eyes of Elizabeth, and Oke can then get her message across to us by using her characters--characters that we now view in the way she wants us to view them.
Oke superbly uses diction to get us involved in Elizabeth's dilemma with the school stove, and just by reading these words we understand how she feels about herself and how she feels about her friend, Wynn Delaney. When Wynn Delaney walks in, we read words like "gasp," "choke," "embarrassment," "self-conscious," and "predicament," causing us to feel Elizabeth's humiliation. Words we read about Wynn Delaney include "benefactor," "save," "purposefully," and "friendship," (133) making it clear that Elizabeth was appreciative of Wynn's help. Oke strategically uses these words to cause us to subconsciously feel the same way that Elizabeth does; thus we see the following events from Elizabeth's point of view, which is Oke's objective, because then we become attached to our protagonist and sympathize with her feelings when things go wrong for her.
Oke gets us emotionally involved when Elizabeth is about to return home and leave behind the world she has come to love. She pauses when she hears her name. "A hand was placed on my shoulder, and through the mist in my eyes I saw a red-coated chest and I looked up into the face of Wynn Delaney. His eyes looked troubled as they gazed deeply into mine." (219) By this point in the story we have a firm understanding of Elizabeth's confusion about her relationship to Wynn, and we also know how reluctant she is to return home because we, too, have come to love this wilderness through Elizabeth's experiences. Oke now effectively touches our emotions, but is only able to do so because throughout the story we have come to know, experience, and love her characters, which she has effectively done through characterization, sensory details, and diction. Now that Oke has fully and completely engaged us with the story and with her protagonist, she gives us one last gift of connecting with our emotions. We leave the book feeling our hearts touched in some way.
Oke does an excellent job of connecting us to her protagonist and engaging each of her readers, no matter what background they have. If you want to be left with a happy feeling and you enjoy these kinds of books, you will love "When Calls the Heart."

I absolutely loved this novel.

I am a Christian, and I enjoy Janette Oke's books dearly. They are so wonderfully written--such wonderfully story lines, great details, great plots, and great faith in God.

I have read many of her novels, but I must say this one was my favorite. Something about this wonderful story made me just couldn't put it down! I found myself wanted to read it until I finished.

The story is wonderful, with Elizabeth's heart for teaching and her courage to moving to the west, and I love that is a love story at the same time. And her faith in God is so wonderful as well...

It's so neat cause when I read Janette's books, I don't just read a great story, but I learn something at the same time---great principles to apply to life - every time

If you want to read a great story (with no worries if younger readers want to read it) I truly recommend this story!

I loved it!!!!!!!! And you will too.

It was a really good book. It made me laugh, almost cry, and kept me on the edge of my seat till I was done. I would LOVE to read the others

I found this book delightful because it was different. Yes it had alot of the typical things that you expect to find in historical Christian romance novels. But it also had a lot of new twists and a very different setting and plot. I too, enjoyed the first person narration, it served to pull me into the story much more effectively. The only down side to the book was that the ending was a bit too predictable.

This is my favorite Janette Oke series just for the sheer difference in writing style and plot.

This is my second favorite Janette Oke book. (My first is A Gown of Spanish Lace.)I am currently rereading it for about the tenth time and once again falling in love with all the characters.
It is about a somewhat pampered and sheltered young woman named Elizabeth who decides to accept a teaching position in western Canada where life is backward compared to her hometown.
She encounters a few obstacles with courage and spunk. She adores her students and is an awesome teacher and role model.
She is determined not to marry right away, but when an attractive Mountie comes into her life, her mind changes. Mine would too if I met someone like Wynn! Jannette Oke has good taste in men. :) I highly recommend the entire Canadian West Series for females ages 15 and up. I especially love the first 2 of the series. It is easy to fall in love with both the characters and Canada.
In order to really enjoy an Oke book you really have to read it slowly. So if you don't have the time and patience to spend a few days quietly reading a book, this isn't for you.I often have a hard time settling down for the first chapter or two of her novels since they are slowpaced, but then I am able to really get into the story and am glad I decided to slow down and smell the roses.
I hope someday Hallmark (or anyone else)makes this book into a movie.

When Calls the Heart is a wonderful book. I suggest to everyone that you read it. It is easy to become best friends with Elizabeth Thatcher throughout this witty, heart-felt story. The plot is enthralling, and the love is so sincere. It is so good you will want to read it over and over again. The people are so real you can see them and you are as sorry to leave them as Elizabeth.

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

These are a wonderful addition to any library. It is a pleasure to read good "CHRISTIAN" novels that contain Morals and I would strongly suggest our teenage daughters being exposed to this type of romance verses all the vulgar, graphic writings in today's world. There is still PLEASURE in a wholesome loving God given relations and our teens today need to realize that.