When Calls the Heart by Janette Oke (and the rest of the Canadian West Collection, books 1-6 of the series)

Sometime in late December 2018 I stumbled on a delightful little television series on Netflix called When Calls the Heart.  It’s set in the Canadian West during the period right around the turn of the 20^th century and centers around a young teacher who is assigned to a country school, the young Mountie who is coincidentally assigned to the same remote town, and the folks with whom they live and work.  Very much reminiscent of Little House on the Prairie, though taking place decades later and a whole country farther north, it’s family friendly drama that my kids referred to as “mom’s cheesy show” but which my then 9 year old and I binge watched over the Christmas break with secret delight.  It has all the markings of its parent channel’s best shows:  Christian based themes, no cursing, absolutely no naughty $ex, and story lines that your grandma would be happy to hear about over Sunday dinner.  I ate it up.

Knowing that the tv show was based on the novels, of course my first book order after getting caught up to the season that is live right now was to order the book.  It came as a collection, all 6 books in one order and I snatched it right up.  Well, other than the fact that the books were also Christian based and that the Mountie’s name is Jack, there was very little similarity between the books and the tv show.  “Loosely based” barely covers it.  I mean, perhaps they got the idea for setting a tv show in the Canadian West from the books but that it about it.  I don’t even think the main character taught school for more than a couple of chapters before she bravely followed her Mountie husband off into the wilderness.

The books are very much the story of the life of a couple in the Canadian West as the husband pursues his career and the wife does her best to make a home for them.  They face disaster time after time, loss of and distance from family, they have to make friends where, how and with whom they can.  It’s a pioneer story, which I have a particular fondness for, so I liked them well enough.  I enjoyed the last book, a flashforward to when our happy couple’s children are grown and finding their way in the world, as much as the earlier books about the couple themselves. 

Great literature this is not.  Great historical fiction its not either. And as books about the tv show I love?  Not at all.  But as a gentle pioneer story, its inoffensive and just different enough from the Laura Ingalls Wilder books to stand on their own.  Recommend?  Not to the general reader…there are many more books and many more series that do the same thing better.  To the reader who limits themselves to the “Christian” genre?  Based on my experience, this is far superior to the normal drivel that is out there so I’d say sure, check it out.

Rating:  #5, Good Enough