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Mrs. Mike #1
Mrs. Mike
A moving love story set in the Canadian wilderness, Mrs. Mike is a classic tale that has enchanted millions of readers worldwide. It brings the fierce, stunning landscape of the Great North to life—and tenderly evokes the love that blossoms between Sergeant Mike Flannigan and beautiful young Katherine Mary O'Fallon.
313 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1947
About the author
Benedict Freedman
12 books59 followersBenedict Freedman, the son and grandson of writers, was born in New York City in 1919. While in high school he studied accelerated courses for gifted boys and graduated with a medal for mathematics. At fourteen he entered Columbia University as a premed student, but had to drop out at sixteen because of his father's sudden death. For a time Benedict continued private study of higher mathematics. Freedman’s chief interest was in games and recreational mathematics, but he also assisted in writing a textbook and worked on actuarial problems as clerk to a consulting actuary.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,408 reviews
June 11, 2018
Mrs. Mike has been a lifelong favorite book. I've got a battered paperback that's been in my personal library for years, and I've been curious to see how well the novel holds now that I'm older and a little more critical of my reading material. The answer is: very well, especially considering that this book was written in 1947.
This semi-fictional (reportedly mostly fictional) autobiographical novel follows the life, loves, adventures, sorrows and joys of the real-life Katherine Mary O'Fallon Flannigan, a 16 year old Boston girl who is sent by her family to Calgary in 1907 to visit her uncle and recover from a bout of pleurisy in the clean, dry air of Canada. (You can already tell there's some fictionalizing going on here, since the real Kathy was only 8 years old in 1907.) She meets Mike Flannigan, a tall and handsome Canadian Mountie, who - well aware from personal experience of the huge shortage of white women in the Canadian northern territories, and knowing a good thing when he sees it, even if she's sixteen - promptly sweeps Kathy off her feet. After a whirlwind romance, they marry and Mike takes Kathy off to the isolated areas of British Columbia and northern Alberta. By dog sled.
So far this sounds like a romance, but the heart of the story is Kathy's life experiences in northern Canada in the early 1900s, where civilization and doctors are far away, natural disasters and plagues can wipe out families, childbirth and childhood are fraught with danger, and people need to rely on each other. Life gets real for Kathy, fast.
There are many dealings with the native tribes, and blunt descriptions of the problems and prejudices many of the white characters have with and against them. This novel is set a hundred years and was written almost 70 years ago, and these stories are not told in a PC way, at all, but underlying that is a deep respect that Kathy and Mike have for the native people and their way of life. Their sensitivity is actually quite heartening to me, considering how long ago this was written.
The story is told in a simple and straightforward way. It's heart-wrenching and several times brought me to tears, but ultimately it's inspiring and hopeful. I enjoyed this both as a teen and as an adult.
4.5 stars, partly - I'll admit it - for the huge nostalgia factor, but I also think this is a great story with insight into life, love and the human condition, combined with some wonderful history about life in the wilds of northern Canadian, over a hundred years ago.
This semi-fictional (reportedly mostly fictional) autobiographical novel follows the life, loves, adventures, sorrows and joys of the real-life Katherine Mary O'Fallon Flannigan, a 16 year old Boston girl who is sent by her family to Calgary in 1907 to visit her uncle and recover from a bout of pleurisy in the clean, dry air of Canada. (You can already tell there's some fictionalizing going on here, since the real Kathy was only 8 years old in 1907.) She meets Mike Flannigan, a tall and handsome Canadian Mountie, who - well aware from personal experience of the huge shortage of white women in the Canadian northern territories, and knowing a good thing when he sees it, even if she's sixteen - promptly sweeps Kathy off her feet. After a whirlwind romance, they marry and Mike takes Kathy off to the isolated areas of British Columbia and northern Alberta. By dog sled.
So far this sounds like a romance, but the heart of the story is Kathy's life experiences in northern Canada in the early 1900s, where civilization and doctors are far away, natural disasters and plagues can wipe out families, childbirth and childhood are fraught with danger, and people need to rely on each other. Life gets real for Kathy, fast.
There are many dealings with the native tribes, and blunt descriptions of the problems and prejudices many of the white characters have with and against them. This novel is set a hundred years and was written almost 70 years ago, and these stories are not told in a PC way, at all, but underlying that is a deep respect that Kathy and Mike have for the native people and their way of life. Their sensitivity is actually quite heartening to me, considering how long ago this was written.
The story is told in a simple and straightforward way. It's heart-wrenching and several times brought me to tears, but ultimately it's inspiring and hopeful. I enjoyed this both as a teen and as an adult.
4.5 stars, partly - I'll admit it - for the huge nostalgia factor, but I also think this is a great story with insight into life, love and the human condition, combined with some wonderful history about life in the wilds of northern Canadian, over a hundred years ago.
January 27, 2008
This wasn't on my list of scheduled reads but while I was in a bookstore last month to purchase a book for a Christmas exchange, I saw Mrs. Mike on the shelves and felt compelled to buy this much beloved book.
I'm often asked what my favorite book is. I always answer that I don't have one; there are many books I love but they are too different to say one is superior to another.
I have changed my mind. Mrs. Mike is my favorite book.
A coming of age story set in the Canadian North in the year 1907, Katherine Mary O'Fallon, a young woman of 16, goes to live with her uncle somewhere north of Calgary as treatment for her pleurisy. There she meets Sergeant Mike Flannigan, a Mountie who has "eyes so blue she could swim in them." They are eventually married after a brief (but fantastically romantic) courtship and she follows him by dog sled to the arctic wilderness to live among the fur traders and Indians.
I love this book for many reasons. Most importantly, as a book, it's my first love. Mrs. Mike was the book that made me realized how much a book could move and stick with me for years. I rarely re-read a book, but I believe I've read Mrs. Mike five times now. Each time, my stomach swoons when Kathy and Mike fall in love, I laugh when Kathy covers her daughter and Mike spanks Kathy instead, I cry when the unimaginable happens and I sigh as I close the book, thinking the line at the very end is one of the best ever written.
Another reason I love this book is that it's based on a real woman's life who the authors met before writing the book. I'm sure it's juiced from the reality, but even the skeleton of the story is moving.
I can't claim that it's the best written book. It is simple in structure, dialogue and description, but as I've read more and more over the years, and compare it to other literature, I believe the style matches the story perfectly.
It's the kind of book I can't help but promise that anyone who reads it will love it. But I also know that with our diverse personalities and preferences, it wouldn't be true. Like a biased mother who adores her baby, I don't think I'd enjoy anyone pointing out the flaws of this book. Perhaps its eyes are too close together and the head oddly-shaped, but it's my baby, and I think it's the most beautiful thing in the world.
I'm often asked what my favorite book is. I always answer that I don't have one; there are many books I love but they are too different to say one is superior to another.
I have changed my mind. Mrs. Mike is my favorite book.
A coming of age story set in the Canadian North in the year 1907, Katherine Mary O'Fallon, a young woman of 16, goes to live with her uncle somewhere north of Calgary as treatment for her pleurisy. There she meets Sergeant Mike Flannigan, a Mountie who has "eyes so blue she could swim in them." They are eventually married after a brief (but fantastically romantic) courtship and she follows him by dog sled to the arctic wilderness to live among the fur traders and Indians.
I love this book for many reasons. Most importantly, as a book, it's my first love. Mrs. Mike was the book that made me realized how much a book could move and stick with me for years. I rarely re-read a book, but I believe I've read Mrs. Mike five times now. Each time, my stomach swoons when Kathy and Mike fall in love, I laugh when Kathy covers her daughter and Mike spanks Kathy instead, I cry when the unimaginable happens and I sigh as I close the book, thinking the line at the very end is one of the best ever written.
Another reason I love this book is that it's based on a real woman's life who the authors met before writing the book. I'm sure it's juiced from the reality, but even the skeleton of the story is moving.
I can't claim that it's the best written book. It is simple in structure, dialogue and description, but as I've read more and more over the years, and compare it to other literature, I believe the style matches the story perfectly.
It's the kind of book I can't help but promise that anyone who reads it will love it. But I also know that with our diverse personalities and preferences, it wouldn't be true. Like a biased mother who adores her baby, I don't think I'd enjoy anyone pointing out the flaws of this book. Perhaps its eyes are too close together and the head oddly-shaped, but it's my baby, and I think it's the most beautiful thing in the world.
December 8, 2016
It's not easy to write a viable romance. Try it some time. It's hard to avoid being schmaltzy; hard to stay away from corny lines or disintegrate into torrid tales of heaving bosoms and leopard print loin cloths.
And so, the first thing I want to say about Mrs. Mike is. . . it's a lovely, viable, not schmaltzy love story. Despite its publication date of 1947, it's not that antiquated in its sensibilities, either. Yes, the protagonist marries at the age of 16, but even though that was still young amongst society ladies in the early twentieth century, it wasn't unheard of. And Katherine "Mrs. Mike" Flannigan is neither a damsel in distress nor a revolting pushover.
This is an historic fiction that takes place largely in the frigid, untamed woods of Calgary, Alberta. Some passages feel a little "made for tv special," some passages are perfectly inspired. I struggled in one regard: I felt that only the protagonist was truly formed. To me, all of the other characters suffered somewhat from their one-dimensional, less formed states, but the protagonist had such personality and voice, she mostly made up for it.
There's tragedy, too, and I wasn't expecting it, but somehow, it adds to the credibility of the bonds that this extraordinary couple share.
Lovely lines are peppered throughout, but here were two of my favorites:
. . . death does not stand at the end of life, it is all through it. It is the fear of losing, the knowledge of losing that makes love tender.
And so, the first thing I want to say about Mrs. Mike is. . . it's a lovely, viable, not schmaltzy love story. Despite its publication date of 1947, it's not that antiquated in its sensibilities, either. Yes, the protagonist marries at the age of 16, but even though that was still young amongst society ladies in the early twentieth century, it wasn't unheard of. And Katherine "Mrs. Mike" Flannigan is neither a damsel in distress nor a revolting pushover.
This is an historic fiction that takes place largely in the frigid, untamed woods of Calgary, Alberta. Some passages feel a little "made for tv special," some passages are perfectly inspired. I struggled in one regard: I felt that only the protagonist was truly formed. To me, all of the other characters suffered somewhat from their one-dimensional, less formed states, but the protagonist had such personality and voice, she mostly made up for it.
There's tragedy, too, and I wasn't expecting it, but somehow, it adds to the credibility of the bonds that this extraordinary couple share.
Lovely lines are peppered throughout, but here were two of my favorites:
. . . death does not stand at the end of life, it is all through it. It is the fear of losing, the knowledge of losing that makes love tender.
June 2, 2018
I remember vividly the first time I read this story about the Canadian wilderness. I was 12 and it was visiting day. Visiting day meant we traveled to spend the day with my bachelor uncle. He lived by himself in a huge old house and firmly believed children in his home should be seen and not heard. There were no kids living nearby. I was not allowed to watch television or listen to music in his home. And the town was so small there was nothing to do. There wasn't even a park. So visiting days were horrible for me. And my parents would not allow me to stay home. It made for a bleak and awful Sunday. But this time, I ventured upstairs in the old creaky house. Uncle had suffered from polio when he was a young boy, and he wore a brace on one leg. He never ventured upstairs. The steps were too steep. With the excuse of going up to dust and refresh the two upstairs bedrooms and bathroom, I escaped up the stairs so there was no way I could accidentally peeve my curmudgeon uncle. In one of the rooms, there was a bookcase. Books! Something to do! I found a couple books by James Herriot I had read before....those would work in a pinch. But then I spied a paperback that looked interesting. Mrs. Mike. It had a picture of a sled dog team on the front. I loved adventure stories with animals, so I grabbed the book and lay down across the old four poster bed. I spent the entire afternoon reading about the life of Mary Katherine O'Fallon Flannigan. Lovely book! Over the years, I have read this story again and again.....and I enjoy it just as much as I did that first time.
The Basics: Mary Katherine O'Fallon is sent to Alberta to live with an uncle at 16. She suffers from pleurisy and doctors say the cold, dry air will be good for her. She meets Mike Flannigan, a mountie, and marries him. They travel North and build a life together, serving natives at Brouard, Lesser Slave Lake and other remote areas in Alberta and British Columbia. Their life is hard at times, but Katherine learns to love Mike, the native people they serve, and the wilderness with all her heart.
The story is told with humor, emotion and realism, and is based on the real life story of Katherine. (The Freedmans did admit that Katherine might have embellished her story somewhat as some of the details could never be corroborated, but it's a delightful story even if portions of it didn't really happen). I have tried several times to look up information about Mary Katherine O'Fallon (Flannigan) or to find photos/information about Mike or Katherine online. But, information is sparse. All I found out is that Mike died in 1944 from a ruptured appendix. Following his death, Katherine came back to the states, remarried and ventured out to California to try to sell her life story as a movie idea. She was directed to the Freedmans for a possible book instead. The book was written and sold quite well. Then the Freedmans sold the movie rights to the book and a film version starring Dick Powell was released in 1949. Katherine attempted to sue the movie studio and the Freedmans for $25,000, but was unsuccessful. She was told she had a contract regarding the book with the Freedmans,but had no rights to money from the film. I would love to see the movie! But I have yet to find a copy or any streaming service that has it. At some point it will pop up online, and I will finally get to see Dick Powell as Mike Flannigan!
A sweet mix of adventure and romance, this is a lovely book! A copy is always on my keeper shelf. The Freedmans wrote two fictional sequels, The Search for Joyful and Kathy Little Bird. I haven't read the sequels yet. I loved the original book because it was based on a true story. The two sequels are fiction. Sequels can be so disappointing, so I have never worked up the courage to read either book. I am striving this year to read more books I have always wanted to read but never found the time.....maybe this year I will take a chance and read the two sequels to Mrs. Mike.
This time, I listened to the audiobook version of Mrs. Mike. Narrated by Kirsten Potter, the audio is just over 11.5 hours. Potter read an even pace, with good inflection. She was wonderful at all the different accents....Irish, French, native and Boston. :) A very enjoyable listen!
The Basics: Mary Katherine O'Fallon is sent to Alberta to live with an uncle at 16. She suffers from pleurisy and doctors say the cold, dry air will be good for her. She meets Mike Flannigan, a mountie, and marries him. They travel North and build a life together, serving natives at Brouard, Lesser Slave Lake and other remote areas in Alberta and British Columbia. Their life is hard at times, but Katherine learns to love Mike, the native people they serve, and the wilderness with all her heart.
The story is told with humor, emotion and realism, and is based on the real life story of Katherine. (The Freedmans did admit that Katherine might have embellished her story somewhat as some of the details could never be corroborated, but it's a delightful story even if portions of it didn't really happen). I have tried several times to look up information about Mary Katherine O'Fallon (Flannigan) or to find photos/information about Mike or Katherine online. But, information is sparse. All I found out is that Mike died in 1944 from a ruptured appendix. Following his death, Katherine came back to the states, remarried and ventured out to California to try to sell her life story as a movie idea. She was directed to the Freedmans for a possible book instead. The book was written and sold quite well. Then the Freedmans sold the movie rights to the book and a film version starring Dick Powell was released in 1949. Katherine attempted to sue the movie studio and the Freedmans for $25,000, but was unsuccessful. She was told she had a contract regarding the book with the Freedmans,but had no rights to money from the film. I would love to see the movie! But I have yet to find a copy or any streaming service that has it. At some point it will pop up online, and I will finally get to see Dick Powell as Mike Flannigan!
A sweet mix of adventure and romance, this is a lovely book! A copy is always on my keeper shelf. The Freedmans wrote two fictional sequels, The Search for Joyful and Kathy Little Bird. I haven't read the sequels yet. I loved the original book because it was based on a true story. The two sequels are fiction. Sequels can be so disappointing, so I have never worked up the courage to read either book. I am striving this year to read more books I have always wanted to read but never found the time.....maybe this year I will take a chance and read the two sequels to Mrs. Mike.
This time, I listened to the audiobook version of Mrs. Mike. Narrated by Kirsten Potter, the audio is just over 11.5 hours. Potter read an even pace, with good inflection. She was wonderful at all the different accents....Irish, French, native and Boston. :) A very enjoyable listen!
March 13, 2023
I have liked this
a lot
. No, it is not fluff! Originally, I suspected that it might be.
This is a fictionalized account of Katherine Mary O'Fallon’s life in Canada.* To aid recovery from pleurisy, Katherine is sent from her home in Boston, Massachusetts, to her uncle’s ranch in Alberta, Canada. She is sixteen. She falls in love and marries Sergeant Mike Flannigan, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The two make a life together in the rugged wilderness of northern Alberta and British Colombia during the first decades of the 1900s. The book recounts the hardships that life in the wilds of northwestern Canada entails.
Yes, this is a love story.
Both she and I married in our teens. Teen marriages need not be foolhardy or rash. They can last! The story is not soppy nor sentimental. Events are told in a straightforward fashion. The life Mike and Katherine chose for themselves was hard. Difficult decisions had to be made. Births, deaths, accidents and illness had to be coped with--alone. Doctors were too far distant. A good midwife nearby was a blessing. Thinking straight and keeping one’s wits became a necessity. Friends mattered. The story gets down to the basics of what is important in life.
Words, words, words—now an example to illustrate what I am talking about. Tell me, would you have the courage to amputate, physically saw off the leg of your son? Women living here in this place and era were strong; they had to be strong. A job had to be done and it had to be done right. And sometimes it was only you left to do it. Men do not often shriek. When they do, there is nothing worse!
The book shows the passage of life—how, with the death of one, life does not end; it goes on. In our children and grandchildren can be seen behavior, body movements, mannerisms and physical attributes of those who have passed away. What we first judge to have been lost reappears in offspring for generations to come. Having recently lost my husband, I found solace in the words of this book. The words struck home.
The book shows the strength of those who consciously choose where to live. So many live where they were born, not bothering to consider where else they might live.
The book shows the wonder and beauty of untamed land. The book will be appreciated by those solaced by being alone in areas without people, modern conveniences and the clutter of civilization.
Don’t expect Mrs. Mike to be an angel. She makes mistakes and loses her temper--just like you and me!
The prose is not fancy, but there is a simplicity and strength in that which is said.
This book made me happy. It calmed me down. If focuses on what is important in life. Little things count. Life need not always be a rat race. Life goes on after death through those who follow us. Life is not simple nor easy, but it is still worth living.
Boy Wiberg narrates the audio download I listened to. It was horrible. It was difficult to distinguish the words. She mumbles. The technical production was poor. The volume was not steady. I am still glad to have been able to get my hands on it. It was this or nothing!
*Some of the factual details are incorrect. When the authors, Nancy and Benedict Freedman, were asked about discrepancies found between actual details and the information in the book, the reply was that information given them had not been checked! This I find alarming! (If you want to know more, read Wikipedia’s article on the book.) This information made it difficult for me, at the start, to enjoy the book. I questioned everything! To get round such worries, view the book as fiction. Then you can enjoy it. I do believe it to be a worthwhile read. It says things about life that are important.
This is a fictionalized account of Katherine Mary O'Fallon’s life in Canada.* To aid recovery from pleurisy, Katherine is sent from her home in Boston, Massachusetts, to her uncle’s ranch in Alberta, Canada. She is sixteen. She falls in love and marries Sergeant Mike Flannigan, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The two make a life together in the rugged wilderness of northern Alberta and British Colombia during the first decades of the 1900s. The book recounts the hardships that life in the wilds of northwestern Canada entails.
Yes, this is a love story.
Both she and I married in our teens. Teen marriages need not be foolhardy or rash. They can last! The story is not soppy nor sentimental. Events are told in a straightforward fashion. The life Mike and Katherine chose for themselves was hard. Difficult decisions had to be made. Births, deaths, accidents and illness had to be coped with--alone. Doctors were too far distant. A good midwife nearby was a blessing. Thinking straight and keeping one’s wits became a necessity. Friends mattered. The story gets down to the basics of what is important in life.
Words, words, words—now an example to illustrate what I am talking about. Tell me, would you have the courage to amputate, physically saw off the leg of your son? Women living here in this place and era were strong; they had to be strong. A job had to be done and it had to be done right. And sometimes it was only you left to do it. Men do not often shriek. When they do, there is nothing worse!
The book shows the passage of life—how, with the death of one, life does not end; it goes on. In our children and grandchildren can be seen behavior, body movements, mannerisms and physical attributes of those who have passed away. What we first judge to have been lost reappears in offspring for generations to come. Having recently lost my husband, I found solace in the words of this book. The words struck home.
The book shows the strength of those who consciously choose where to live. So many live where they were born, not bothering to consider where else they might live.
The book shows the wonder and beauty of untamed land. The book will be appreciated by those solaced by being alone in areas without people, modern conveniences and the clutter of civilization.
Don’t expect Mrs. Mike to be an angel. She makes mistakes and loses her temper--just like you and me!
The prose is not fancy, but there is a simplicity and strength in that which is said.
This book made me happy. It calmed me down. If focuses on what is important in life. Little things count. Life need not always be a rat race. Life goes on after death through those who follow us. Life is not simple nor easy, but it is still worth living.
Boy Wiberg narrates the audio download I listened to. It was horrible. It was difficult to distinguish the words. She mumbles. The technical production was poor. The volume was not steady. I am still glad to have been able to get my hands on it. It was this or nothing!
*Some of the factual details are incorrect. When the authors, Nancy and Benedict Freedman, were asked about discrepancies found between actual details and the information in the book, the reply was that information given them had not been checked! This I find alarming! (If you want to know more, read Wikipedia’s article on the book.) This information made it difficult for me, at the start, to enjoy the book. I questioned everything! To get round such worries, view the book as fiction. Then you can enjoy it. I do believe it to be a worthwhile read. It says things about life that are important.
February 20, 2012
This book is well-written. it's interesting, and it has very high reviews. I think I might be the only female in the world to not like this book. Here is my summary:
The book starts off with a 16-year old Boston girl in the 1900's taking the train to the Canadian "Wild West" to live with her uncle. The girl is the narrator and she is clever, and funny.
Kate gets to Canada and is told there aren't a lot of women up there because they are "too soft for this land". Kate meets Mike, a Canadian Mounty and falls in love in five seconds at most. They are married a week later and their honeymoon is a 700-mile trek across the frozen tundra that Mike worries will be too harsh for Kate because "This is no place for a women."
She gets sick on the trek and Mike saves her. In the next chapter The wilderness is too much for her and she goes temporarily insane. Luckily, Mike is there to save her.
A fire breaks out and Kate runs for the river along with all the other survivors. In the river she meets a mom with three young babies. Kate takes one. Finally! I think. Kate is growing a backbone! She will do something not-useless. Alas, the river and smoke are too much for her and Mike has to come save her AND the baby.
Kate becomes pregnant and delivers a baby. The pain is too much for and she screams and drifts through consciousness. Mike steps in and saves her and the baby.
It was at this point I threw the book across the room because, surely, women aren't too soft for childbirth.
It's not just the sexism and the overall uselessness of Kate, it's the racism that made me sick to my stomach. When the book says things like "You have to tell them one thing at at time because they can only keep one thing in their head" and that an abused wife stayed with her husband because "that's the Indian way" it really made me ill. Maybe, as a women, I was just too soft for this book.
The book starts off with a 16-year old Boston girl in the 1900's taking the train to the Canadian "Wild West" to live with her uncle. The girl is the narrator and she is clever, and funny.
Kate gets to Canada and is told there aren't a lot of women up there because they are "too soft for this land". Kate meets Mike, a Canadian Mounty and falls in love in five seconds at most. They are married a week later and their honeymoon is a 700-mile trek across the frozen tundra that Mike worries will be too harsh for Kate because "This is no place for a women."
She gets sick on the trek and Mike saves her. In the next chapter The wilderness is too much for her and she goes temporarily insane. Luckily, Mike is there to save her.
A fire breaks out and Kate runs for the river along with all the other survivors. In the river she meets a mom with three young babies. Kate takes one. Finally! I think. Kate is growing a backbone! She will do something not-useless. Alas, the river and smoke are too much for her and Mike has to come save her AND the baby.
Kate becomes pregnant and delivers a baby. The pain is too much for and she screams and drifts through consciousness. Mike steps in and saves her and the baby.
It was at this point I threw the book across the room because, surely, women aren't too soft for childbirth.
It's not just the sexism and the overall uselessness of Kate, it's the racism that made me sick to my stomach. When the book says things like "You have to tell them one thing at at time because they can only keep one thing in their head" and that an abused wife stayed with her husband because "that's the Indian way" it really made me ill. Maybe, as a women, I was just too soft for this book.
February 1, 2024
I first encountered Mrs. Mike as a 16 year-old. I remember because the protagonist, Kathy, is 16 at the beginning which is one of the reasons the librarian recommended it to me. Also she was big on love stories for teens and I was not. Anyway, she sold me on this as an adventure story that was loosely based on the story of a real woman. I remember enjoying it at the time.
Fast forward 47 years and what do I see? The descriptions of the Northwest territory in Canada in the early 1900's are beautiful and establish the sense of place. The relationship/courtship between a 16 year-old girl and a 27 year-old man gives me pause; I know it is set in 1907, a different time and also that women are scarce, and still . . . The Freedmans show the harshness of life, the lack of medical supplies and doctors, and the beauty of community as most people are hospitable and help their neighbors. I see the sorrow of the mothers over their sequential families as so many children die.
The story is told through Kathy's eyes and centers on her, so there isn't a lot of development of the other characters.
The story is dated in the blithe treatment of the native populations, the population of mixed parentage individuals, and the Mission that houses 80 Cree children. Only the sorrow of a failed attempt to take back some autonomy is briefly mentioned.
Publication 1947
Fast forward 47 years and what do I see? The descriptions of the Northwest territory in Canada in the early 1900's are beautiful and establish the sense of place. The relationship/courtship between a 16 year-old girl and a 27 year-old man gives me pause; I know it is set in 1907, a different time and also that women are scarce, and still . . . The Freedmans show the harshness of life, the lack of medical supplies and doctors, and the beauty of community as most people are hospitable and help their neighbors. I see the sorrow of the mothers over their sequential families as so many children die.
The story is told through Kathy's eyes and centers on her, so there isn't a lot of development of the other characters.
The story is dated in the blithe treatment of the native populations, the population of mixed parentage individuals, and the Mission that houses 80 Cree children. Only the sorrow of a failed attempt to take back some autonomy is briefly mentioned.
Publication 1947
January 31, 2011
I first read this when I was about 13 or 14 years old and remembered it fondly. After all these years I was afraid it might be too sanitized for my grown-up self. I needn't have worried. Pollyanna Sunshine is nowhere to be found, and my years of life experience only made the book more meaningful for me. This is a realistic account of the joys and hardships of life in northern Alberta in the early 1900s. I grew so attached to Mike and Katherine that I wanted the story to keep going. It's not surprising that the book has remained popular for over fifty years. Have your tissues ready for the last few chapters.
January 14, 2022
In the 1970's I discovered this book in a box of my mother's. It was in a sandwich bag, because the paperback copy was in pieces. My twin sister and I removed it from the bag and read it multiple times. When I saw a review on my GR friend Debbie's account, I knew I had to revisit this classic. This time I listened to the audio version, narrated by Kirsten Potter. What a joy it was to once again travel to the far North with Kathy and her dashing Royal Mountie husband Mike. Even though it has been decades since I last read the book, it was like sitting down with an old friend. No time had passed. Kathy is so young when she married Mike. It is such an adventure to see that remote territory through her eyes. So much happiness and so much pain. Through it all her life is woven into that community and the threads of her life are woven in with so many others. Such a beautiful story that will make you laugh and cry and be inspired to love those around you. What I didn't know before is that there are two more books in the series. Hurray! Onto the next one: The Search for Joyful.
January 1, 2014
4.5 Stars! Just a good old fashioned sweet romance!
An oldie but goodie. It was charming, heartbreaking, full of sacrifice and struggles, and a couple devoted to each other through it all!
Who wouldn't fall in love with this?!
October 29, 2017
I’m definitely in the minority here, I wasn’t “wowed” and I really wanted to love this one. It was okay I had spurts of interest here and there.
February 22, 2016
16 year old Bostonian Katherine Mary O'Fallon is sent to Calgary Canada to live with her uncle to help her recover from pleurisy. During her first year (few months) there she meets, falls in love with and marry Sgt. Mike Flannigan of the Northwest Mounted Police.
This book is based on Katherine Mary's life with her husband in the early 1900's in (at the time) uncivilized Calgary, Hudson's Hope and Grouard Canada. Even though this book is, IMO, simply written, it has the knack of pulling the reader into the pages. It takes the reader from meeting Kathy for the first time as she is train bound to meet her Uncle as a city girl and unsure of herself in this huge big country that is her new home. We grow with her as she meets Mike for the first time and we fall in love as she does. As Kathy follows Mike to Hudson's Hope where he is stationed, we go along with her, filled with excitement and trepidation as she leaves civilization to make a new home in the wilderness, where she is the only white woman.
The reader must remember this book is set in the early 1900's and first published in 1947. At the time there was no such thing as P/C and there are many descriptions of Indians that would today be considered prejudiced and derogatory; but we must again remember it was the acceptable language of the time. Even through these portrayals, we can see the love and respect that Kathy and Mike have for their native neighbors and friends.
There is humor, hardship, loss, but most of all love in this book. Love for the new friends that Kathy makes, love for the land, love for the adventure of new challenges - but most of all love for her Sgt. Mike Flannigan.
This book is based on Katherine Mary's life with her husband in the early 1900's in (at the time) uncivilized Calgary, Hudson's Hope and Grouard Canada. Even though this book is, IMO, simply written, it has the knack of pulling the reader into the pages. It takes the reader from meeting Kathy for the first time as she is train bound to meet her Uncle as a city girl and unsure of herself in this huge big country that is her new home. We grow with her as she meets Mike for the first time and we fall in love as she does. As Kathy follows Mike to Hudson's Hope where he is stationed, we go along with her, filled with excitement and trepidation as she leaves civilization to make a new home in the wilderness, where she is the only white woman.
The reader must remember this book is set in the early 1900's and first published in 1947. At the time there was no such thing as P/C and there are many descriptions of Indians that would today be considered prejudiced and derogatory; but we must again remember it was the acceptable language of the time. Even through these portrayals, we can see the love and respect that Kathy and Mike have for their native neighbors and friends.
There is humor, hardship, loss, but most of all love in this book. Love for the new friends that Kathy makes, love for the land, love for the adventure of new challenges - but most of all love for her Sgt. Mike Flannigan.
September 24, 2013
Did you know that mosquitoes are SO bad in the far north that people can DIE from them? Me neither.
Did you know that if you're trapped in a forest fire you should find the widest part of a river and stay there, but don't ever hide in a well or basement? I know. Who would've thought?
And ...hypothetically saying, of course...if you needed to keep your dead away from animals and had no time (or ground is too frozen) to bury them, the best place is on the roof or hung in a thin tree that bears can't climb? All true.
These are just some of the tidbits to be found in "Mrs. Mike".
When I first started reading it I thought it would be kind of like "Little House On The Prairie" for grown ups. And it does have that soothing feel to it. But this is definitely much grittier.And the 'soothing' bits that at the beginning of the book you kind of snooze through, well, you'll be desperately grasping for them by the middle. Ever read "These Is My Words", "Sarah's Quilt" and "The Star Garden" by Nancy Turner? Well think of this as an Arctic version.
BASIC STORY LINE:
A 16 year old girl from Boston falls in love with a 27 year old Canadian Monty and travels with him to the 'wild barbarian north' where he is stationed, (4000 miles from Boston). She is one of only two white woman among a colony of trappers and Indians. There are no stores, no doctors, no nothing. How does someone make a life for themself in a land where life is so tragic that people speak of their "first family, second family, third family"? Well this is the story of one woman who did just that and did it well.
CONTENT:
SEX: None
LANGUAGE: very mild cussing
DRUG USE/SMOKING/DRINKING: One character gets drunk. Whisky is also liberally used as anaesthetic.
VIOLENCE: Moderate and descriptive.
*While some could argue that the story could be told without the descriptive "violence", I really feel you would lose the authentic feel of what those hardships were like and how these experiences moulded the characters. I feel that the descriptions are needed to truly get into the shoes of the characters and feel what they feel.
I'll give you ONE example~
During the forest fire, women and children are hiding in the river. The smoke is so bad and the heat so intense that they have to submerge themselves under water to escape it, and even then, some end up with second degree burns. Many who are not in the river will die (and there are descriptions afterwards of the search for bodies). Now, some time later, Kathy makes a trip back home to Boston and is struck dumbfounded when her mother's lodgers are squabbling about who burnt the toast. It was a WOW moment for me and I don't think I would have felt the full impact if I as a reader hadn't been in the thick of the horror.
THEMATIC ISSUES: Trapping, smallpox and diphtheria epidemics, amputation, childbirth, domestic violence (NOT glorified), abortive herbs (also not glorified), widespread forest fire, Arctic conditions etc
MY RATING: PG-13
BOTTOM LINE: Well worth a read!!
Did you know that if you're trapped in a forest fire you should find the widest part of a river and stay there, but don't ever hide in a well or basement? I know. Who would've thought?
And ...hypothetically saying, of course...if you needed to keep your dead away from animals and had no time (or ground is too frozen) to bury them, the best place is on the roof or hung in a thin tree that bears can't climb? All true.
These are just some of the tidbits to be found in "Mrs. Mike".
When I first started reading it I thought it would be kind of like "Little House On The Prairie" for grown ups. And it does have that soothing feel to it. But this is definitely much grittier.And the 'soothing' bits that at the beginning of the book you kind of snooze through, well, you'll be desperately grasping for them by the middle. Ever read "These Is My Words", "Sarah's Quilt" and "The Star Garden" by Nancy Turner? Well think of this as an Arctic version.
BASIC STORY LINE:
A 16 year old girl from Boston falls in love with a 27 year old Canadian Monty and travels with him to the 'wild barbarian north' where he is stationed, (4000 miles from Boston). She is one of only two white woman among a colony of trappers and Indians. There are no stores, no doctors, no nothing. How does someone make a life for themself in a land where life is so tragic that people speak of their "first family, second family, third family"? Well this is the story of one woman who did just that and did it well.
CONTENT:
SEX: None
LANGUAGE: very mild cussing
DRUG USE/SMOKING/DRINKING: One character gets drunk. Whisky is also liberally used as anaesthetic.
VIOLENCE: Moderate and descriptive.
*While some could argue that the story could be told without the descriptive "violence", I really feel you would lose the authentic feel of what those hardships were like and how these experiences moulded the characters. I feel that the descriptions are needed to truly get into the shoes of the characters and feel what they feel.
I'll give you ONE example~
During the forest fire, women and children are hiding in the river. The smoke is so bad and the heat so intense that they have to submerge themselves under water to escape it, and even then, some end up with second degree burns. Many who are not in the river will die (and there are descriptions afterwards of the search for bodies). Now, some time later, Kathy makes a trip back home to Boston and is struck dumbfounded when her mother's lodgers are squabbling about who burnt the toast. It was a WOW moment for me and I don't think I would have felt the full impact if I as a reader hadn't been in the thick of the horror.
THEMATIC ISSUES: Trapping, smallpox and diphtheria epidemics, amputation, childbirth, domestic violence (NOT glorified), abortive herbs (also not glorified), widespread forest fire, Arctic conditions etc
MY RATING: PG-13
BOTTOM LINE: Well worth a read!!
March 26, 2015
3.5 stars, rounded down for veering from the facts given to them by the real Katherine O'Flannagan, and with my sympathies to her: Some story-spoilers in here, so beware:
**********
As for the book itself, I've been through the fire with this one. A classic, published in 1947. It's semi-realistic historical fiction with some sense of a love story but also a good deal of tragedy, including some truly grisly scenes. I alternately read the e-book and listened to the audio, narrated by the talented Kirsten Potter. It was also made into a movie, starring Dick Powell and Evelyn Keyes, but I haven't seen it.
This fast-paced narrative is told in 1st person POV in the perspective of "Mrs. Mike" (the name the Cree and Beaver natives use for the heroine, Katherine Mary O'Fallon Flannigan, of Boston).
The story begins in March 1907, on a train bound for Calgary, in the midst of a historic snowstorm. The story continues in Alberta and British Columbia, Western Canada (Calgary, Hudson's Hope, Peace River Crossing, and Grouard, near Lower Slave Lake).
Descriptive. Vivid imagery, yet fairly simplistic writing, with some exceptions. Educational. Sometimes funny. Sometimes profound. A few sweet loving scenes, with hugs and kisses. And terribly horribly grim at times. Very sad.
Realistic but extreme look at life in the Canadian wilderness, the serenity, the majesty, and the horror. Beautiful scenery, wondrous wild animals, enormous forest fires, diphtheria, insanity, murder, good-natured natives and their folklore, a mission (with school, nuns and a kindly bishop), mosquitos, moose, elks, bears, wolves, prairie chickens (rabbits), dogsleds (huskies), etc.
Loved the hero of the tale, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sergeant Mike Flannigan. His love for life, for the wilderness, for the natives, and for his girl Kathy was transparent. When they marry in 1907, Mike is 27 years old and Katherine is 16. When the story ends, they are each about 12 years older. They've suffered great loss and experienced great joy in only 12 years. Katherine has grown up.
The authors credibly portray women of tremendous emotional courage and resiliency, especially Sarah and Constance, but also Katherine Mary herself.
Quibbles: I wish the authors had been more true to the facts. Also, the book suddenly ends after about 12 years of marriage. I wish there were more closure. Another quibble is that some important scenes and characters were insuffuciently developed, over-simplified. Also, the chapter about the Chinese emperors did not seem to fit at all, never mind how boring and silly it was.
See my reading status updates and my posted quotes for more about the book.
The e-book ends with a teaser to the sequel, The Search for Joyful: A Mrs. Mike Novel. The authors wrote it decades after Mrs. Mike. It tells of Kathy, the daughter of Mamanowatum (aka Oh Be Joyful) and Jonathan Forquet. She is a young lady planning to become a nurse in World War II, an Indian woman from the boonies immersed in a world dominated by white men.
********************
From Wikipedia:
Considered by some a young-adult classic, Mrs. Mike was initially serialized in the Atlantic Monthly and was the March 1947 selection of the Literary Guild. It was a critical and popular success, with 27 non-US editions.
**********
As for the book itself, I've been through the fire with this one. A classic, published in 1947. It's semi-realistic historical fiction with some sense of a love story but also a good deal of tragedy, including some truly grisly scenes. I alternately read the e-book and listened to the audio, narrated by the talented Kirsten Potter. It was also made into a movie, starring Dick Powell and Evelyn Keyes, but I haven't seen it.
This fast-paced narrative is told in 1st person POV in the perspective of "Mrs. Mike" (the name the Cree and Beaver natives use for the heroine, Katherine Mary O'Fallon Flannigan, of Boston).
The story begins in March 1907, on a train bound for Calgary, in the midst of a historic snowstorm. The story continues in Alberta and British Columbia, Western Canada (Calgary, Hudson's Hope, Peace River Crossing, and Grouard, near Lower Slave Lake).
Descriptive. Vivid imagery, yet fairly simplistic writing, with some exceptions. Educational. Sometimes funny. Sometimes profound. A few sweet loving scenes, with hugs and kisses. And terribly horribly grim at times. Very sad.
Realistic but extreme look at life in the Canadian wilderness, the serenity, the majesty, and the horror. Beautiful scenery, wondrous wild animals, enormous forest fires, diphtheria, insanity, murder, good-natured natives and their folklore, a mission (with school, nuns and a kindly bishop), mosquitos, moose, elks, bears, wolves, prairie chickens (rabbits), dogsleds (huskies), etc.
Loved the hero of the tale, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sergeant Mike Flannigan. His love for life, for the wilderness, for the natives, and for his girl Kathy was transparent. When they marry in 1907, Mike is 27 years old and Katherine is 16. When the story ends, they are each about 12 years older. They've suffered great loss and experienced great joy in only 12 years. Katherine has grown up.
The authors credibly portray women of tremendous emotional courage and resiliency, especially Sarah and Constance, but also Katherine Mary herself.
Quibbles: I wish the authors had been more true to the facts. Also, the book suddenly ends after about 12 years of marriage. I wish there were more closure. Another quibble is that some important scenes and characters were insuffuciently developed, over-simplified. Also, the chapter about the Chinese emperors did not seem to fit at all, never mind how boring and silly it was.
See my reading status updates and my posted quotes for more about the book.
The e-book ends with a teaser to the sequel, The Search for Joyful: A Mrs. Mike Novel. The authors wrote it decades after Mrs. Mike. It tells of Kathy, the daughter of Mamanowatum (aka Oh Be Joyful) and Jonathan Forquet. She is a young lady planning to become a nurse in World War II, an Indian woman from the boonies immersed in a world dominated by white men.
********************
From Wikipedia:
Considered by some a young-adult classic, Mrs. Mike was initially serialized in the Atlantic Monthly and was the March 1947 selection of the Literary Guild. It was a critical and popular success, with 27 non-US editions.
November 17, 2016
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.
February 9, 2024
As soon as the girl in this book fell in love with the Canadian mountie, I remembered that I read this in high school And hated it. I felt the same way this time. I could not finish it. I don't know,, it was just their conversations. He was controlling, and while she fought back, it was just the idea that he was over a woman and not Beside her.
It is strange how some Books affected me when I was a teenager. I can still see myself sitting in front of the shelf that contained a book Or books about a nurse , and I did Not want to read them. It was at that moment that I also Realize that I did not want to read anymore books about mounties.
It is strange how some Books affected me when I was a teenager. I can still see myself sitting in front of the shelf that contained a book Or books about a nurse , and I did Not want to read them. It was at that moment that I also Realize that I did not want to read anymore books about mounties.
April 26, 2020
*releases long sigh*
Ah, Mrs. Mike. Such high hopes I had for you.
I've had this book sitting on my shelf for a few years now, enticing me with its silvery winter cover and romantically enthralling blurb.
The critics promised me something great with this book.
The Boston Herald told me that "only once in a long while does the lover of books come across a novel like this one. Mrs. Mike is an unforgettable story."
Well, I'm sure it is partly true. There aren't many books out there quite like Mrs. Mike . It's pretty unique, but as for its being an "unforgettable story", I shall have to reserve judgement on that later, when more time has elapsed and I see if I do indeed remember it.
The Library Journal stated that "this is a book the reader will be unable to put down until the last page is read".
Unfortunately, this couldn't have been farther from the truth. Mrs. Mike is an extremely put-downable book. It read more like a series of little episodes than a novel, and it dragged in so many places that I often had to push myself to finish chapters. The premise seemed really good; a sixteen year-old girl is sent from Boston to Alberta, Canada to stay with her uncle and recover from pleurisy. There, she meets and falls in love with handsome Mountie Mike, and he whisks her away into the great North wilderness, far away from heat and civilization.
As a Canadian, I appreciated that it was set in Canada and enjoyed all the beautiful nature descriptions. But I still had a hard time really getting into the story.
Then, The New York Times assured me that "it is the personality of Sgt. Mike blowing through this account like a clear breeze that gives it a refreshing quality. Everyone's dream of a cop, he was also a romantic and understanding husband, the fondest of fathers; a man of honour and humour".
Honestly, I liked Sgt. Mike, but this praise made me hope for so much more, and it wasn't delivered. Mike was a great character, but a) he wasn't nearly present enough, and b) this isn't a romance novel. We do get loving and tender moments between Mike and Kathy, but they are few and far between, and there overall just wasn't enough to make me really really like them. We get to know Sgt. Mike more as a Mountie than as a husband or father. Aside from the fact that he likes to play solitaire, I can't remember a single thing about him as a man.
And lastly, the Los Angeles Herald Express has claimed that "Mrs. Mike...is the story of the start of young love, its growth to maturity, and its acceptance of a dangerous, hard, and enthralling life. Its levels of sheer entertainment are extremely high".
And well, that solely depends on what is considered "entertaining". If people having their teeth pulled and their leg sawed off because of a bear trap, their houses destroyed by wildfires and their neighbours dying of diseases that make their throats swell, if all that sounds like your idea of "sheer entertainment", then by all means, its levels are extremely high.
I for one, would definitely not consider Mrs. Mike entertaining. It was interesting, certainly, and a great account of the harsh reality of the Great North, BUT I WAS NOT ENTERTAINED.
I never connected with the characters, I wasn't particularly fond of Kathy's voice (it's written in first person POV) and as soon as something mildly interesting happened, it usually started dragging on or became unexpectedly gruesome (@sawing of the leg and "yellow membrane" growing in people's throats and causing them to choke). There was a lot of sadness in this book, and I wanted to feel for the characters, but since I wasn't overly interested in them, I didn't find most of the sad events very touching ().
And also - disclaimer - which I probably should have mentioned at the beginning, but I didn't actually finish this book. I wanted to, but didn't have time before leaving home after the Holidays, and I didn't want to bring the book with me, so I actually have no idea how this ends. I might, I just might find enough willpower to finish it next time I'm home, but I don't know. I was inspired to read it over Christmas because everything was snowy and white and cold outside at home too, but I suspect my interest in this book will most likely melt away like the snow come spring.
Ah, Mrs. Mike. Such high hopes I had for you.
I've had this book sitting on my shelf for a few years now, enticing me with its silvery winter cover and romantically enthralling blurb.
The critics promised me something great with this book.
The Boston Herald told me that "only once in a long while does the lover of books come across a novel like this one. Mrs. Mike is an unforgettable story."
Well, I'm sure it is partly true. There aren't many books out there quite like Mrs. Mike . It's pretty unique, but as for its being an "unforgettable story", I shall have to reserve judgement on that later, when more time has elapsed and I see if I do indeed remember it.
The Library Journal stated that "this is a book the reader will be unable to put down until the last page is read".
Unfortunately, this couldn't have been farther from the truth. Mrs. Mike is an extremely put-downable book. It read more like a series of little episodes than a novel, and it dragged in so many places that I often had to push myself to finish chapters. The premise seemed really good; a sixteen year-old girl is sent from Boston to Alberta, Canada to stay with her uncle and recover from pleurisy. There, she meets and falls in love with handsome Mountie Mike, and he whisks her away into the great North wilderness, far away from heat and civilization.
As a Canadian, I appreciated that it was set in Canada and enjoyed all the beautiful nature descriptions. But I still had a hard time really getting into the story.
Then, The New York Times assured me that "it is the personality of Sgt. Mike blowing through this account like a clear breeze that gives it a refreshing quality. Everyone's dream of a cop, he was also a romantic and understanding husband, the fondest of fathers; a man of honour and humour".
Honestly, I liked Sgt. Mike, but this praise made me hope for so much more, and it wasn't delivered. Mike was a great character, but a) he wasn't nearly present enough, and b) this isn't a romance novel. We do get loving and tender moments between Mike and Kathy, but they are few and far between, and there overall just wasn't enough to make me really really like them. We get to know Sgt. Mike more as a Mountie than as a husband or father. Aside from the fact that he likes to play solitaire, I can't remember a single thing about him as a man.
And lastly, the Los Angeles Herald Express has claimed that "Mrs. Mike...is the story of the start of young love, its growth to maturity, and its acceptance of a dangerous, hard, and enthralling life. Its levels of sheer entertainment are extremely high".
And well, that solely depends on what is considered "entertaining". If people having their teeth pulled and their leg sawed off because of a bear trap, their houses destroyed by wildfires and their neighbours dying of diseases that make their throats swell, if all that sounds like your idea of "sheer entertainment", then by all means, its levels are extremely high.
I for one, would definitely not consider Mrs. Mike entertaining. It was interesting, certainly, and a great account of the harsh reality of the Great North, BUT I WAS NOT ENTERTAINED.
I never connected with the characters, I wasn't particularly fond of Kathy's voice (it's written in first person POV) and as soon as something mildly interesting happened, it usually started dragging on or became unexpectedly gruesome (@sawing of the leg and "yellow membrane" growing in people's throats and causing them to choke). There was a lot of sadness in this book, and I wanted to feel for the characters, but since I wasn't overly interested in them, I didn't find most of the sad events very touching ().
And also - disclaimer - which I probably should have mentioned at the beginning, but I didn't actually finish this book. I wanted to, but didn't have time before leaving home after the Holidays, and I didn't want to bring the book with me, so I actually have no idea how this ends. I might, I just might find enough willpower to finish it next time I'm home, but I don't know. I was inspired to read it over Christmas because everything was snowy and white and cold outside at home too, but I suspect my interest in this book will most likely melt away like the snow come spring.
April 16, 2010
Benedict and Nancy Freedman, the two partners in the husband-wife writing team who co-wrote this and several other novels, were born, respectively, in 1919 and 1920; so when writing historical fiction, like Dickens and Stephen Crane, they chose to set it in the generation immediately before their own, where the world they were writing about was still a living memory, and could be researched through living voices. As the Goodreads description above indicates, the primary setting here is northern Canada, in the years from 1907 to the great influenza epidemic of 1918-19. Our narrator here is young Katherine Mary O'Fallon, and the novel centers around her marriage and home-making with Sergeant Mike Flannigan of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. (The earlier chapters are set in Calgary, where the couple meet.) Love is at the heart of the story, but it's not a commercial "romance;" it doesn't end with the courtship and wedding, but instead focuses mainly on the story of the developing and growing marriage --and in the Realist tradition from which the Freedmans write, genuine love doesn't insulate a couple from the challenges and tragedies of life.
Indeed, tragedy and sorrow are not uncommon ingredients of this story, though happy events and humor play their role, too. This is a realistic picture of life in a harsh, unforgiving natural environment, faced without the benefit of high technology. Disease, injury, wild animals that can be lethal, blizzards and numbingly cold winters, hordes of mosquitoes, relative poverty (by our standards), hard work, and the need to enforce law in an often lawless world are normal parts of life for the Flannigans and their neighbors. But it also shows the reality of love, courage, friendship, inner strength, and a human spirit that can triumph even in the face of tragedy and sorrow. The authors do a wonderful job of evoking this world of the Indians and the Metis, of largely unspoiled wilderness, at a time when it's on the cusp of change (not necessarily for the better), facing the ravages of modernity. (They also provide a basically sympathetic view of the role of the Roman Catholic faith in the lives of many of their characters.) Characters are well drawn, and the quality of the writing is excellent.
I would not hesitate to say that this is one of the better serious novels, of any genre and any time period, that I've read so far. (At the time it was written, it garnered very good reviews from a critical community that was then less jaded and more genuinely perceptive.) If it gets its due in the estimation of literary history, IMO, it will one day be reckoned as one of the best examples of the 20th century American historical novel.
Indeed, tragedy and sorrow are not uncommon ingredients of this story, though happy events and humor play their role, too. This is a realistic picture of life in a harsh, unforgiving natural environment, faced without the benefit of high technology. Disease, injury, wild animals that can be lethal, blizzards and numbingly cold winters, hordes of mosquitoes, relative poverty (by our standards), hard work, and the need to enforce law in an often lawless world are normal parts of life for the Flannigans and their neighbors. But it also shows the reality of love, courage, friendship, inner strength, and a human spirit that can triumph even in the face of tragedy and sorrow. The authors do a wonderful job of evoking this world of the Indians and the Metis, of largely unspoiled wilderness, at a time when it's on the cusp of change (not necessarily for the better), facing the ravages of modernity. (They also provide a basically sympathetic view of the role of the Roman Catholic faith in the lives of many of their characters.) Characters are well drawn, and the quality of the writing is excellent.
I would not hesitate to say that this is one of the better serious novels, of any genre and any time period, that I've read so far. (At the time it was written, it garnered very good reviews from a critical community that was then less jaded and more genuinely perceptive.) If it gets its due in the estimation of literary history, IMO, it will one day be reckoned as one of the best examples of the 20th century American historical novel.
December 21, 2013
In my infinite wisdom,I chose to read this "heart warming" romantic saga of Boston girl who married a "rugged Canadian Mountie " as a light read to take my mind off another ghastly round of semester exams. If you are in need of further proof of my imbecilic notions I was reading this in tandem with Carson Mc Culler's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter .My cup runneth over.
Before I start ranting and frothing at the mouth let me just ask the wise folk here who apparently read this book when they were 10 or 12 years old and can't seem to stop rhapsodising about its charms- WHY??? What on earth is wrong with you? To start with the minor issues (and this really is a broad hint about the rest of the novel) the girl is SIXTEEN YEARS OLD when our "rugged" hero swoops in with his blue,blue eyes(" "you can swim in them) and his twenty seven years of experience. When I was sixteen my dreams usually involved freedom from parental interference and giant vats of kesar pista ice cream.( well,ok maybe Hayden Christensen did make occasional cameos also).
Horrible things happen in this book .The fact that this is inspired by a true story makes it all the more gory.A mother sawing off her own son's mangled gangrenous limbs after he fell foul of a forgotten bear trap,an ethereal aristocratic woman whose every breath seems to be dogged by death,misery as she outlives all of her children,grisly deaths,charred human bodies ,uncontrollable forest fires,mass graves- anything that you can possibly imagine going wrong will.The book pulls no punches in describing these events in unsparing,sincere prose.
I am old enough to realise that even as debates on female equality rage on,there were darker times when we were denied a voice not just because of our gender but because of our breed.That's right ,not race.Breed.Still, I refuse to stand by a man who is the law in the great wilderness and yet all he can manage is an averted shamed face when a native Indian woman is used to replace a lame Husky to pull a dog sled caravan.With other dogs.While the rider whips them and her along. I don't bloody well care if the Indian woman was brainwashed into doing it out of misplaced notions of loyalty or love.You cannot be a human being and just watch another person being debased in this fashion.No matter how much you may commiserate with a man's past sorrows you cannot sit in the same room where another woman,foolish enough to fall for him, sits silent and bleeding from a knife wound he just carelessly inflicted.
Ignoring the ridiculous manner in which our hero dismissed women as "unpredictable " or the even more ludicrous reaction his words elicited from her, I will never use " love" to describe his feelings for her.There is a bizarre idea that has taken root in common psyche that women like having a gruff,charming,honest Abe kind of fellow who brushes aside our petty,niggling qualms as childish twaddle while he takes charge,kisses us silly and leads us along the right path. Pure rot. Nobody ever complained of too much kissing but if every (or for that matter any kiss) is accompanied by "kitten" he may not have much of a mouth left to use afterwards.
Sergeant Mike Flannigan is an upstanding capable fellow.As Kathy describes him ,he is solid and enduring. But his reasoning for braving the elements in an untamed country where mosquitoes can kill you,wolves bay ghoulishly outside your cabins so that they could "live the real life" is flimsy at best. His feelings ,however tender ,are driven by selfish unconcern for her welfare.No matter how much he tightens the brace for her pleurisy he does not love.He covets,he seeks to cherish,not protect .
We are only given a glimpse of love in the short but poignant story of Jonathan Forquet,the stubborn resilient Indian and his "klooch" Oh-Be-Joyful. Many winters they were together,always the canoe sang in the river and the paths they walked were of happiness. Now if he only didn't ruin the starlit romance by chewing on raw flesh of mountain wolves.
This book is well written,the hardships all the more unreal because of its genesis in truth but it was utterly and completely the wrong choice for me. There are moments of magic,esoteric tales of how the Pole star came into existence according to native Indian myths,great grizzlies hibernating under snow banks,colour seeping into the blank white northern expanse in the form of the magisterial Northern Lights, the indomitable spirit ,infinite grace and fellow feeling among them delineated quite poignantly. I will try to remember this book by those rare snippets and also because of the memorable quote,"when little things are so important it's because there are no big ones" ( Sgt Mike,who else?).
However if any of my children or those of my sister's or my cousins' ever attempt to read this book when they are 10 or 12 or 15 or 18 I shall clobber them on their great empty heads and direct them to L.M.Montgomery.
Before I start ranting and frothing at the mouth let me just ask the wise folk here who apparently read this book when they were 10 or 12 years old and can't seem to stop rhapsodising about its charms- WHY??? What on earth is wrong with you? To start with the minor issues (and this really is a broad hint about the rest of the novel) the girl is SIXTEEN YEARS OLD when our "rugged" hero swoops in with his blue,blue eyes(" "you can swim in them) and his twenty seven years of experience. When I was sixteen my dreams usually involved freedom from parental interference and giant vats of kesar pista ice cream.( well,ok maybe Hayden Christensen did make occasional cameos also).
Horrible things happen in this book .The fact that this is inspired by a true story makes it all the more gory.A mother sawing off her own son's mangled gangrenous limbs after he fell foul of a forgotten bear trap,an ethereal aristocratic woman whose every breath seems to be dogged by death,misery as she outlives all of her children,grisly deaths,charred human bodies ,uncontrollable forest fires,mass graves- anything that you can possibly imagine going wrong will.The book pulls no punches in describing these events in unsparing,sincere prose.
I am old enough to realise that even as debates on female equality rage on,there were darker times when we were denied a voice not just because of our gender but because of our breed.That's right ,not race.Breed.Still, I refuse to stand by a man who is the law in the great wilderness and yet all he can manage is an averted shamed face when a native Indian woman is used to replace a lame Husky to pull a dog sled caravan.With other dogs.While the rider whips them and her along. I don't bloody well care if the Indian woman was brainwashed into doing it out of misplaced notions of loyalty or love.You cannot be a human being and just watch another person being debased in this fashion.No matter how much you may commiserate with a man's past sorrows you cannot sit in the same room where another woman,foolish enough to fall for him, sits silent and bleeding from a knife wound he just carelessly inflicted.
Ignoring the ridiculous manner in which our hero dismissed women as "unpredictable " or the even more ludicrous reaction his words elicited from her, I will never use " love" to describe his feelings for her.There is a bizarre idea that has taken root in common psyche that women like having a gruff,charming,honest Abe kind of fellow who brushes aside our petty,niggling qualms as childish twaddle while he takes charge,kisses us silly and leads us along the right path. Pure rot. Nobody ever complained of too much kissing but if every (or for that matter any kiss) is accompanied by "kitten" he may not have much of a mouth left to use afterwards.
Sergeant Mike Flannigan is an upstanding capable fellow.As Kathy describes him ,he is solid and enduring. But his reasoning for braving the elements in an untamed country where mosquitoes can kill you,wolves bay ghoulishly outside your cabins so that they could "live the real life" is flimsy at best. His feelings ,however tender ,are driven by selfish unconcern for her welfare.No matter how much he tightens the brace for her pleurisy he does not love.He covets,he seeks to cherish,not protect .
We are only given a glimpse of love in the short but poignant story of Jonathan Forquet,the stubborn resilient Indian and his "klooch" Oh-Be-Joyful. Many winters they were together,always the canoe sang in the river and the paths they walked were of happiness. Now if he only didn't ruin the starlit romance by chewing on raw flesh of mountain wolves.
This book is well written,the hardships all the more unreal because of its genesis in truth but it was utterly and completely the wrong choice for me. There are moments of magic,esoteric tales of how the Pole star came into existence according to native Indian myths,great grizzlies hibernating under snow banks,colour seeping into the blank white northern expanse in the form of the magisterial Northern Lights, the indomitable spirit ,infinite grace and fellow feeling among them delineated quite poignantly. I will try to remember this book by those rare snippets and also because of the memorable quote,"when little things are so important it's because there are no big ones" ( Sgt Mike,who else?).
However if any of my children or those of my sister's or my cousins' ever attempt to read this book when they are 10 or 12 or 15 or 18 I shall clobber them on their great empty heads and direct them to L.M.Montgomery.
June 5, 2014
I first read this book about a year ago when I found it on my Mom's bookshelf. She had picked it up somewhere for a quarter. Recently, I started thinking about it again and decided that I should read it again. I'm so glad I did. It is now pretty high up on my list of favorite books. It is a story of Katherine Mary O'Fallon who falls in love with a Canadian Mounty and leaves her comfortable home in Boston for the rugged, dangerous Canadian wilderness. It is based on the real Katherine Mary and is filled with stories of adventure, death and romance. I love the pace of the book...it moves through her years quickly highlighting important events, but leaving me overall with beautiful images and admiration for her spirit and courage. I became really wrapped up in it and had difficulty putting it down. I have to add a few of my favorite lessons from the book. At one point she really struggles with her new life...so far away from home and everything so unfamiliar. After reflection though...she resolves to embrace the changes in her life... here is what she says, "I knew that this white land and its lonliness were a part of Mike. It was a part I feared that I didn't know or understand. But I knew that I had to know it and understand it, and even love it as Mike did. ..... I told myself, if you love Mike, you'll love the things that go with him. And if you can't love then, you'll understand then - and until you do you'll keep the fight to understand them in yourself." Such a life changing attitude to marriage. Mike in this novel reminds me so much of my own husband that I really connected with this sentiment. His love was so simple - uncomplicated and he just never stopped loving Kathy...and his children. He was honorable and kind and willing to let Kathy become who she needed to become. A lot of love stories end when the couple get married - as if that is the climax of their story...but I love that in this book - it is only the beginning. Their love was so much richer than when they first married. They have much to learn, but they do it together and I think it is beautiful.
Death is intertwined throughout the novel. She sees death and then experiences is so closely when she watches her own two children die from diptheria. Eventually...she also gains insight about this, "but death does not stand at the end of life, it is all through it. It is the fear of losing, the knowledge of losing that makes love tender. I remembered what [Constance] had said about the little things being the important things."
Katherine goes back to Boston for awhile and visits her family. She enjoys the time, but reflects a bit on the pettiness, the worldliness and how she misses the larger than life reality of the wilderness. After she watches a group of adults arguing about who burned a piece of toast...she realizes that she can't stay. "When little things are so important, it's because there aren't any big ones."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2024
Mrs Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freeman started in 1907 in Boston to Calgary. Kathy is 8 yo when she meets Mike Flannigan . She was sent from Boston to Calgary due to having pleurisy. By the age of 16 Kathy is in love with Mike Flannigan. Once they marry he takes he to the outskirts of Canada. There they endure sickness and lots of death. They befriend the Native Americans of the area. So much tragedy. So much love and friendship as they all gather together to survive terrible winters, fires, disease, new life and death. Even death of their own. Wonderful book of survival, friendship and unconditional love
May 27, 2017
I'm a fan of stories with a pioneering spirit, and the harsh climate and living conditions of the north Canadian wilderness showed the growth and strength of the people who live there. The romance at the beginning was sweet, even though Katherine is young and somewhat immature, and I enjoyed seeing her and Mike grow closer together throughout their marriage and the trials they faced. Her relationships with the Native people in the community brought depth and emotion to the story.
April 16, 2024
Rounding up because I am pretty sure my friend Jennifer recommended this book to me and she passed away unexpectedly this past fall. It made the ending unexpectedly poignant. It has been a while since I cried at the end of a book.
But perhaps I would have liked this one anyway even without the bittersweet memories it evoked. There is something charming about it, even if not my usual cup of tea. You've got to love the introduction to the authors: "THE AUTHORS: Benedict and Nancy Freedman are 27 and 26 years old respectively...Since their marriage in 1941, the Freedmans have done everything together, including the writings of five plays and a number of short stories and now MRS. MIKE. Their literary criteria are simplicity, freshness, and drama, which, we believe, have been applied with supreme success in MRS. MIKE."
"Simplicity, freshness, and drama." But not the kind of drama we would expect today. Sure, this book isn't particularly PC (whether the 27 year old marrying a 16 year old or interaction with the local Indian tribes) but there is a level of respect and wholesomeness in the story that I appreciated. It touches on heavy topics like grief and isolation without ever quite succumbing to it. I might have to give the other books in the series a try.
But perhaps I would have liked this one anyway even without the bittersweet memories it evoked. There is something charming about it, even if not my usual cup of tea. You've got to love the introduction to the authors: "THE AUTHORS: Benedict and Nancy Freedman are 27 and 26 years old respectively...Since their marriage in 1941, the Freedmans have done everything together, including the writings of five plays and a number of short stories and now MRS. MIKE. Their literary criteria are simplicity, freshness, and drama, which, we believe, have been applied with supreme success in MRS. MIKE."
"Simplicity, freshness, and drama." But not the kind of drama we would expect today. Sure, this book isn't particularly PC (whether the 27 year old marrying a 16 year old or interaction with the local Indian tribes) but there is a level of respect and wholesomeness in the story that I appreciated. It touches on heavy topics like grief and isolation without ever quite succumbing to it. I might have to give the other books in the series a try.
Read
February 26, 2023I had heard this was a old fashioned comfort book for some. And I think that expectation spoiled it for me. I wasn’t looking for a book with so much death and suffering right now. And while I understand the prejudice, stereotypes, and racism was probably an accurate reflection of ideas and behaviors of the time, when I found out the book was mostly fiction and only very very loosely based on a real person, it made that harder to overlook.
I may return to it in a different season and enjoy wrestling with the many different layers and perspectives it presents. I did like the love story. Especially the ending, as they begin to process grief together.
I may return to it in a different season and enjoy wrestling with the many different layers and perspectives it presents. I did like the love story. Especially the ending, as they begin to process grief together.
January 8, 2023
Primera lectura empezada y terminada de 2023 y es un “coup de coeur”. “Mrs. Mike”, una novela narrada en primera persona por su protagonista, es la historia de Katherine Mary O’Fallon una joven que emigró siendo muy pequeña desde Irlanda hasta Boston, en Estados Unidos, a finales del s. XIX. Ahora, entrando en el nuevo siglo, Kathy emprende un nuevo viaje a Canadá, esta vez sola, porque su tío John, que vive en su rancho a dos días de Calgary, le asegura que el aire frio y seco de la salvaje Alberta la ayudará a superar su pleuritis. Así pues la valiente y decidida Kathy viaja en tren hasta Calgary donde ya puede comprender que su vida no volverá a ser lo que era, deja la civilización atrás y se enfrenta a un país duro, implacable e inhóspito, cuyas nieves parecen eternas.
Al poco de instalarse en el rancho, aparece por allí un hombre de casaca roja, muy apuesto, que trae a uno de los vaqueros de su tío, que había desaparecido en una celebración. Mary en principio le toma por un soldado inglés y se pone a la defensiva, pero Mike Flannigan es tan irlandés como ella y, tras emigrar a Canadá, ingresó en la policía montada, cuyo uniforme incluye, como no, una casaca roja. Tras este malentendido, una pequeña llama surge entre ellos y no pasa mucho tiempo antes de que Mike le pida su mano al tío John, rápidamente la pareja se casa y emprende un nuevo viaje al norte, aun más duro que las afueras de Calgary, donde Mike ejerce de policía, abogado, juez y médico, como buenamente puede. Aquí, entre vecinos entrañables y no tan entrañables, indios y sus costumbres, con Mike siendo el guía y pacificador de todos, es donde comienza verdaderamente la historia de la señora de Mike Flannigan. Pero este pueblo no es el último destino de la pareja.
Kathy y su Mike son dos personajes maravillosos. El personaje de Kathy no sorprende tanto aunque sí su evolución, porque estoy acostumbrada a leer sobre personajes femeninos fuertes de espíritu y de carácter superviviente. Sin embargo Mike ha sido como una brisa fresca en verano. Es un adelantado a su época, progresista en cuanto a su manera de pensar (aclaro que Kathy y él se parecen mucho en eso), su relación con los indios se basa en tal respeto y aceptación de las costumbres del otro que, en una aldea donde los hombres blancos desprecian a los indígenas y aun más a los mestizos, resulta del todo revolucionaria. Mike comprende la lengua y los usos del pueblo autóctono y como figura principal del pueblo se rige tanto por la ley de los blancos como por la de los indios. E influirá en Kathy quien va amoldando su carácter a la armonía con los demás e incluso la hará consciente de las injusticias que se van dando a lo largo del camino. Mike es justo, amable, cabezota, risueño y valiente. Aunque lo que más llega al corazón es el amor que siente por su pequeña irlandesa de pelo rojo, su Kathy. Es más la fuerza de ambos y su entereza para enfrentarse a todo lo que les va llegando en la vida nacen del amor de ambos.
La ambientación según las descripciones que Kathy hace de los paisajes, los entornos, las sensaciones, las personas y lo que siente por ellas, confluyen en una imagen impecable del lugar y de los tiempos que les ha tocado vivir. Cabe señalar que a pesar de lo duro de algunos episodios, tanto para los Flannigan como para quienes les rodean, los autores no se recrean en el drama ni el dolor, no exageran ni son dados a fuertes dosis de drama. Así pues queda un retrato bastante realista de estas fuertes y resignadas gentes del norte a quienes se acaba por coger mucho cariño y un sentido protector hacia ellos. En ocasiones esta novela incluso recuerda a viejas películas en technicolor o a “La casa de la pradera” pero mucho menos edulcorada.
Al poco de instalarse en el rancho, aparece por allí un hombre de casaca roja, muy apuesto, que trae a uno de los vaqueros de su tío, que había desaparecido en una celebración. Mary en principio le toma por un soldado inglés y se pone a la defensiva, pero Mike Flannigan es tan irlandés como ella y, tras emigrar a Canadá, ingresó en la policía montada, cuyo uniforme incluye, como no, una casaca roja. Tras este malentendido, una pequeña llama surge entre ellos y no pasa mucho tiempo antes de que Mike le pida su mano al tío John, rápidamente la pareja se casa y emprende un nuevo viaje al norte, aun más duro que las afueras de Calgary, donde Mike ejerce de policía, abogado, juez y médico, como buenamente puede. Aquí, entre vecinos entrañables y no tan entrañables, indios y sus costumbres, con Mike siendo el guía y pacificador de todos, es donde comienza verdaderamente la historia de la señora de Mike Flannigan. Pero este pueblo no es el último destino de la pareja.
Kathy y su Mike son dos personajes maravillosos. El personaje de Kathy no sorprende tanto aunque sí su evolución, porque estoy acostumbrada a leer sobre personajes femeninos fuertes de espíritu y de carácter superviviente. Sin embargo Mike ha sido como una brisa fresca en verano. Es un adelantado a su época, progresista en cuanto a su manera de pensar (aclaro que Kathy y él se parecen mucho en eso), su relación con los indios se basa en tal respeto y aceptación de las costumbres del otro que, en una aldea donde los hombres blancos desprecian a los indígenas y aun más a los mestizos, resulta del todo revolucionaria. Mike comprende la lengua y los usos del pueblo autóctono y como figura principal del pueblo se rige tanto por la ley de los blancos como por la de los indios. E influirá en Kathy quien va amoldando su carácter a la armonía con los demás e incluso la hará consciente de las injusticias que se van dando a lo largo del camino. Mike es justo, amable, cabezota, risueño y valiente. Aunque lo que más llega al corazón es el amor que siente por su pequeña irlandesa de pelo rojo, su Kathy. Es más la fuerza de ambos y su entereza para enfrentarse a todo lo que les va llegando en la vida nacen del amor de ambos.
La ambientación según las descripciones que Kathy hace de los paisajes, los entornos, las sensaciones, las personas y lo que siente por ellas, confluyen en una imagen impecable del lugar y de los tiempos que les ha tocado vivir. Cabe señalar que a pesar de lo duro de algunos episodios, tanto para los Flannigan como para quienes les rodean, los autores no se recrean en el drama ni el dolor, no exageran ni son dados a fuertes dosis de drama. Así pues queda un retrato bastante realista de estas fuertes y resignadas gentes del norte a quienes se acaba por coger mucho cariño y un sentido protector hacia ellos. En ocasiones esta novela incluso recuerda a viejas películas en technicolor o a “La casa de la pradera” pero mucho menos edulcorada.
January 9, 2018
Having lived in Alaska as well as traveled on the Al-Can road which connects Alaska to the lower 48, I have a soft spot for stories about the wilds of the area. Mrs. Mike is one such historical fiction title.
Katherine Mary O’Fallon is a 16-year-old Irish gal sent from Boston to live with her uncle in Alberta, Canada with the hopes that the environment will help her heal from pleurisy. Life is quite different there compared to the city of Boston with its fine clothes and theaters. Soon after arriving, Katherine meets Sergeant Mike Flannigan of the Canadian Mounted Police. They are both smitten with each other and wed in time for her to join him at his new duty station of Hudson’s Hope.
While this title is a love story, it also showcases how hard of a life those living in western Canada experienced. You can see how much of a struggle it is and walk with Katherine as she contemplates whether the losses experienced will send her back to her mother in Boston for good.
If you adore historical fiction, definitely give this book a read. Those who like a bit of romance will adore this one and find it to be free of smut.
When I read this (via a copy from NetGalley to review), I didn't realize it was originally published in 1947. I now know that there are subsequent titles in the Mrs. Mike series and can't wait to read them.
Katherine Mary O’Fallon is a 16-year-old Irish gal sent from Boston to live with her uncle in Alberta, Canada with the hopes that the environment will help her heal from pleurisy. Life is quite different there compared to the city of Boston with its fine clothes and theaters. Soon after arriving, Katherine meets Sergeant Mike Flannigan of the Canadian Mounted Police. They are both smitten with each other and wed in time for her to join him at his new duty station of Hudson’s Hope.
While this title is a love story, it also showcases how hard of a life those living in western Canada experienced. You can see how much of a struggle it is and walk with Katherine as she contemplates whether the losses experienced will send her back to her mother in Boston for good.
If you adore historical fiction, definitely give this book a read. Those who like a bit of romance will adore this one and find it to be free of smut.
When I read this (via a copy from NetGalley to review), I didn't realize it was originally published in 1947. I now know that there are subsequent titles in the Mrs. Mike series and can't wait to read them.
June 12, 2021
My copy of Mrs. Mike was my mother's, given to her by her mother around the time of her wedding . . .she passed it along to me when I was PG with #1 as one of her favorite books. I have read it many times, and enjoy it probably more for the physical book that it is, as the story it contains. Even though difficult things happen in the book, as do joyful ones, it comforts me as a "might-have-been" of ancestors. . .
It was loosely based on the stories told by an author of an earlier generation, and the Freedmans didn't let the non-fiction aspects of her stories, or reality bind them in any way. Still, as a reader from my youth, that doesn't bother me. Fiction is fiction. Fiction that has to have some truth to it is conditional, and sometimes that matters, but not for me in this book. (It does in others - go figure.) Probably, again, my history with the book and how it found its ways into my hands.
This features the broad wilderness of Canada, Royal Mounties, and tribes of the great forests in the North and Caucasion stereotypes of the 1940's and 50's. It informed the housewifely dreams of my mother and many of the women who raised me. Only one of them, to my knowledge, ever ended out living in any part of Canada.
It was loosely based on the stories told by an author of an earlier generation, and the Freedmans didn't let the non-fiction aspects of her stories, or reality bind them in any way. Still, as a reader from my youth, that doesn't bother me. Fiction is fiction. Fiction that has to have some truth to it is conditional, and sometimes that matters, but not for me in this book. (It does in others - go figure.) Probably, again, my history with the book and how it found its ways into my hands.
This features the broad wilderness of Canada, Royal Mounties, and tribes of the great forests in the North and Caucasion stereotypes of the 1940's and 50's. It informed the housewifely dreams of my mother and many of the women who raised me. Only one of them, to my knowledge, ever ended out living in any part of Canada.
March 20, 2015
This is the best book I have ever read about life in Canada. Every thing came alive, jumped out of the pages and enveloped me into their world. I half wish I could go and see where they all lived. But, there is a darkness that is not entirely visible in the first half.
Mrs. Mike was such a lovable character. And you could see her grow throughout the book and become a better person. A few times I found things so funny I nearly died laughing. Having humor helped lighten the darkness. The only part in the book I found grotesque was a tooth puling. It wasn't gory but, I just can't stand reading about teeth, they make me feel sick to my stomach. There were a fair few cusses mainly from the trappers. And there was some gritty parts involving traps, fire, bottle throwing and sickness. I would still highly recommend this lovely story of Mrs. Mike.
PG-13 for the violence and rough living
Mrs. Mike was such a lovable character. And you could see her grow throughout the book and become a better person. A few times I found things so funny I nearly died laughing. Having humor helped lighten the darkness. The only part in the book I found grotesque was a tooth puling. It wasn't gory but, I just can't stand reading about teeth, they make me feel sick to my stomach. There were a fair few cusses mainly from the trappers. And there was some gritty parts involving traps, fire, bottle throwing and sickness. I would still highly recommend this lovely story of Mrs. Mike.
PG-13 for the violence and rough living
August 5, 2019
I’ve had this book on my shelf for a solid four years and have just now gotten around to reading it! I really enjoyed it, all but the mostly brief and overly-vivid frontier violence (the two pages of an emergency amputation without painkillers is the one that really got to me). The MC, Katherine, is loosely based on a real woman who went to the north to regain her health at her uncle’s home and ended up falling hard for the local Mountie. Only problem was how far into the frontier he actually belonged...at the literal edge of human settlement.
The descriptions of the life are quite excellent and vivid (except for the super gritty details of frontier violence, human and animal) and also each side character shines in vivid colors. Katherine remained my favorite throughout.
18+ for the violence and semi-frequent profanities and swears.
Thanks to netgalley for a free reading copy. A positive review was not required.
The descriptions of the life are quite excellent and vivid (except for the super gritty details of frontier violence, human and animal) and also each side character shines in vivid colors. Katherine remained my favorite throughout.
18+ for the violence and semi-frequent profanities and swears.
Thanks to netgalley for a free reading copy. A positive review was not required.
April 26, 2020
First published in 1947, Mrs. Mike is the story of 16 year old Bostonian Katherine Mary O'Fallon who is sent to the newly anointed territory of Alberta to live with her uncle. Troubled by pleurisy, the doctors have hope that the Canadian prairie air is just what Katherine's lungs need. When the young girl meets Sergeant Mike Flannigan of the Canadian Mounted Police, their whirlwind courtship will set Katherine on a journey of adventure and hardship.
I had never heard of this book until I stumbled upon it while cleaning out the bookroom at school. I found the story engaging and the characters intriguing. Although Mike seems a little too perfect, the challenges that he and Kathy face show what life was like in early 20th century Canada.
Goodreads review published 26/04/20
I had never heard of this book until I stumbled upon it while cleaning out the bookroom at school. I found the story engaging and the characters intriguing. Although Mike seems a little too perfect, the challenges that he and Kathy face show what life was like in early 20th century Canada.
Goodreads review published 26/04/20
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