When Calls the Heart (Canadian West #1)

by Janette Oke

Paperback, 1983

Status

Available

Call number

Rom Oke

Genres

Series

Canadian West (1)

Publication

Bethany House Pub (1983), 221 pages

Description

Fiction. Literature. Romance. Historical Fiction. Elizabeth Thatcher is young, pretty, cultured, and educated. But when she journeys west to teach school in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, she's completely unprepared for the conditions she encounters. Still, she's determined to succeed at the formidable task of fitting in with the locals and shaping the hearts and minds of the schoolchildren in her care. She's also just as determined not to give her heart to any of the local frontiersmen. But then she meets Wynn Delaney, a member the Royal Canadian Mounted Police...

User reviews

LibraryThing member danaenicole

[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! 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.

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LibraryThing member KeriLynneD

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!

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LibraryThing member cherryblossommj

This is my first experience with Janette Oke, which had a lot riding on it because of the recommendations from my sister-in-law as well as the making of the movies, etc. I was pleased. It was a quick and enjoyable read. At first I did not like how it was write as a Dear so-and-so letter

perspective, but I think that it works well, as if it is Elizabeth telling you the story, as to children or a friend. Love, patience, and waiting for God's will not your own are very valuable lessons learned here, as well as to get out of your comfort zone to see what he has in store for you. I look forward to the rest of the series and then others.

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LibraryThing member judyg54

Elizabeth Thatcher is a city girl from Toronto. She finds herself agreeing to teach in a new frontier town in Alberta to please her mother and become better acquainted with her half-brother Jonathan and his family. Elizabeth is somewhat reluctant and not sure what to expect, but soon finds herself

quickly learning to love her new family and the students she teaches in a small one-room school all by herself. Enter Wynn, a handsome and loyal member of the North West Mounted Police. Elizabeth is determined not to be matched up with anyone and Wynn is determined that his job is too demanding to ever be able to marry. Elizabeth begins to have feelings for Wynn, but can't get Wynn to respond. It will take a drastic move to get him to admit his love.
I haven't read any of Janette Oke's books for quite a few years, but enjoyed her writing style once again in this story. It was an easy read, and made me want to begin the next book in this series to find out what happens next!

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LibraryThing member penelopemarzec

When Elizabeth bravely sets out to teach in a one-room schoolhouse in the wilds of Canada she finds a welcoming community of eager students and one stubborn Mountie.

This sweet old-fashioned romance delighted me with its warmth and charm.

LibraryThing member peggy.s

I liked this book more than I thought I would! It was a "nice" book - nothing too heavy for summer reading! It is the first in a series, and I will probably read the rest of the series.

LibraryThing member harleyqgrayson02

This is the first book in the Canadian West series. I love this book!!1 The main character is bound to make it on her own.

LibraryThing member Carole8

Read this book because I had seen part of the television series. Varied from the series but I decided to persevere. Worth a read.

LibraryThing member penelopemarzec

LibraryThing member LiteraryChanteuse

Predictable but delightful to read

LibraryThing member NadineC.Keels

"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, 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 (two characters now becoming increasingly iconic on account of their Hallmark television series--a series I have refused to watch before reading Oke's original novels), 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.

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LibraryThing member ecataldi

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.

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LibraryThing member SJGirl

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 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.

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LibraryThing member salem.colorado

The first of the Canadian West series, When Calls the Heart by Janette Oke is the story of Elizabeth, a pretty, educated, young lady who was not prepared for a “teaching position on the Canadian frontier. But she squares her shoulders and takes on her formidable task with love, humor and

determination. She is just as determined not to become romantically involved with a frontiersman. Then she meets Wynn…” This book is found in the fiction section with other Janette Oke’s books under the number F/Oke.

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