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.
Paperback
Published
January 15th 2002
by Berkley
(first published 1947)
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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, K...more
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, K...more
Jun 10, 2012
Rachelle
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
i-want-to-own-this-book,
favorites
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
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 surp...more
I really enjoyed this book. It was one that I really wanted to finish and did so quickly despite the fact that I have a 2 year old and that I am going to school full time. It was neat to learn that it is based on the actual experiences of a woman and her family so it made it so much more real to me. I felt like it helped me to appreciate all the blessings that I have and appreciate family more. Sometimes the small little irritations of daily life seem like such a big deal, but when you step back...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I read about this book in the Oprah magazine and got to it before there were a million holds on it at the library. It was great! A lot of times when I read books written pre 1960, I have to work to keep my attention on the page. It’s amazing how writing styles have changed in 50+ years. But this was a gripping book that kept me reading and reading.
It’s based on the true story of Katherine who, in 1907 at the age of 16 moved from Boston to Alberta to live with her uncle. She moves because the wea...more
It’s based on the true story of Katherine who, in 1907 at the age of 16 moved from Boston to Alberta to live with her uncle. She moves because the wea...more
Once again, a delightful pleasure to read! It's an amazing story ... based on a true story ... and has been my favorite book since high school (maybe even junior high). I must have checked it out of our local library about once a month during those years until I finally bought my own copy in my senior year. I've long since worn out that first one, but have a couple of other hardback copies that are lasting, so far. Even have a large print copy for my old age. Best book ... something for everyone...more
Feb 18, 2009
Nicole
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
everyone
Recommended to Nicole by:
Lucy
I bought this a few weeks ago because it was Lucy's favorite. Finally, I got around to reading it (My mini vacation after my vacation--hooray for Presidents Day)
I have to agree with Lucy--this is one of those unforgettable books! I did my daily stuff in a grateful daze yesterday--so contented with my lot in life. I am more blessed than I have ever realized!
I don't want to risk telling too much of the story.... Katherine Mary is a girl from Boston who goes into the 'North' to visit her uncle. The...more
I have to agree with Lucy--this is one of those unforgettable books! I did my daily stuff in a grateful daze yesterday--so contented with my lot in life. I am more blessed than I have ever realized!
I don't want to risk telling too much of the story.... Katherine Mary is a girl from Boston who goes into the 'North' to visit her uncle. The...more
This is a story of a 16-year-old girl, Katherine Mary Fallon, who is from Boston. Her mother sends her to live with her Uncle in Calgary, Canada with hopes that the fresh air will cure her pleurisy. While there, she meets and falls in love with a Mountie, Sergeant Mike Flannigan, and they marry and move to northern Canada where the weather is a never ending challenge and she is one of only two White women in the area. This is a love story packed with adventure, tragedy, challenges, courage, comp...more
Nov 24, 2012
Lisa H.
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-alt-history,
general-fiction
This was a tough book to rate, and writing a review may be even tougher.
My four-star rating is largely weighted by my fond remembrance of having read it as a kid. We had a hardcover copy that may have been the original 1947 edition; it was probably "borrowed" from the home of one of our older relatives, and has long since disappeared. What really struck me, re-reading it 30+ years later, was how much of it had stayed with me, even down to the very words. "Oh be joyful, Mamotowatom."
What also st...more
My four-star rating is largely weighted by my fond remembrance of having read it as a kid. We had a hardcover copy that may have been the original 1947 edition; it was probably "borrowed" from the home of one of our older relatives, and has long since disappeared. What really struck me, re-reading it 30+ years later, was how much of it had stayed with me, even down to the very words. "Oh be joyful, Mamotowatom."
What also st...more
You know me by now, and most of my books get a 3 star rating, but I would say that this book is 3 1/2 stars!! I enjoyed the story of this book and the reader had a good voice and expression. ** stop here for spoilers** This story tells about a young girl who goes North to help her Pleurisy. She becomes strong and endures more than most young wives ever experience. She marries a Canadian mounty who is in charge of a station by Hudson Bay. She lives through a fire that destroys most of the village...more
When I first started it, I wasn't so sure I was going to like it. I really didn't like Kathy-- I thought she was so naive and immature-- and then I realized that was sort of the point-- because she has to grow up fast in that rough frontier. I also thought it was a little melodramatic at first because of the fast romance and her falling in love with him in his Canadian Mountie uniform. I did enjoy reading it though. I really wish that some of the characters had been a little more developed-- lik...more
I had mixed feeling about this one. Its hailed as a great classic love saga. Its set shortly after the turn of the century in the upper Canadian wilderness. It the love story of the Kathy and Mike. She is considered somewhat of an invalid, but accepts the dashing uniformed Mike's offer (at 16 years old!) of marriage and follows her man. From there its many chapters of accounts of random, sweet, idyllic, sometimes comic, days of their early marriage.They are just about the only white people among...more
I read this book for the first time when I was about 10 and I fell instantly in love with it. I read it so repeatedly that my mother eventually picked it up, just to see with what I was so obsessed. This beautiful, biographical story of life in the unforgiving Canadian wilderness is gripping and moving. The characters seem to jump of the page. And the situations, ranging from romantic to heartbreaking to grotesque to comedic, sparkle with a vitality and realism that suggests the authors (this ed...more
Great book for those of you that loved Little House on the Prarie. Kathy is Laura with a Canadian twist; she is much tougher, braver, and meant for adults not young readers. The story of an 17 year old Irish girl setting out to settle in Canada from turn of the century Boston was intriguing when I started to think about the settlers in Alberta and how tough it must have been. The authors do a great job of bringing the story to life with descriptions of the wilderness, animals, natural disasters,...more
Reading this book was like eating comfort food for me: Buttered mash potatoes. Warm rice with butter and soy sauce. :)
I loved traveling through the Canadian wilderness with Mrs. Mike. It was harrowing, meeting the Indians and seeing their strengths and weaknesses as sickness and death plagued them. Though not an Indian, Constance was one of my favorite characters. I appreciated how Mrs. Mike went from pitying her to admiring her and wanted to share and contribute to the friendship in the end.
How...more
I loved traveling through the Canadian wilderness with Mrs. Mike. It was harrowing, meeting the Indians and seeing their strengths and weaknesses as sickness and death plagued them. Though not an Indian, Constance was one of my favorite characters. I appreciated how Mrs. Mike went from pitying her to admiring her and wanted to share and contribute to the friendship in the end.
How...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Of course, for all who know me, you have to understand this book holds a special place for me that surpasses what it could ever be as a book alone because it will always conjure memories of our special wedding day! This review attempts to ignore that fact:
This is a simply told story of the importance of continuing. It speaks to the joy that comes with looking forward. The trials of the heart are timeless, though the setting is dated in its characterizations. However, none of the unenlightened st...more
This is a simply told story of the importance of continuing. It speaks to the joy that comes with looking forward. The trials of the heart are timeless, though the setting is dated in its characterizations. However, none of the unenlightened st...more
This novel was indeed captivating - brimming with adventure, risk, romance and tragedy. Kathy and Mike Flannigan's survival in the Canadian wilderness became so vivid to me - I felt like I received a clear picture of what the harshness and isolation were really like. The authors painted a true picture of what tragedies befell these residents; their interactions with their Indian neighbors, roaming fur trappers and sparse shop owners.
I found the novel more fascinating after discovering that it w...more
I found the novel more fascinating after discovering that it w...more
I enjoyed this book overall but thought it was quite sad and depressing, even though it ended on a positive note. I usually love stories of "living in the wild", but this one seemed to spend a lot of time on the gruesome and horrible things that happened. I didn't like that so much. But the title character was a very strong, brave, and compassionate woman who endured the hard life she accepted by marrying a Canadian Mounty with determination and fortitude. I liked her a lot and the story kept me...more
A recent discussion with some friends regarding early books we read had me pulling this from my library for a re-read. It was one of my favorites as a young girl, and I wanted to see if it held up over 40 years. I'm happy to say it did. I loved reading it as much now as I did when I was a very young girl. It is a story of love and adventure and adversity, and that stands the test of time. I've seen people comment negatively on the length of Kathy and Mike's courtship, which for 1907 was probably...more
This is another book that I first read as a teenager. I absolutely loved it.
Freedman's writing style is wonderful; I felt like I was listening to a friend tell a story.
This book is a love story, but it's not a typical one, not by a long shot.
Spoiler:
Young Kathy leaves home to stay with her uncle in the North in order to help with her pleurisy. (The book starts with a journey by train, and I always love that.) While there, she meets the older, handsome Mounty, Mike, who will become her husband.
Th...more
Freedman's writing style is wonderful; I felt like I was listening to a friend tell a story.
This book is a love story, but it's not a typical one, not by a long shot.
Spoiler:
Young Kathy leaves home to stay with her uncle in the North in order to help with her pleurisy. (The book starts with a journey by train, and I always love that.) While there, she meets the older, handsome Mounty, Mike, who will become her husband.
Th...more
I just finished Mrs. Mike and am on my way to speed read The Gurl Who Could Fly.
It's been such a long time since I've read this book that I was very anxious to read it again because I remembered that I'd liked it before. I remembered some parts of the book, and yet other parts stood out to me that didn't before. Here are some of them:
1) The rich Indian history told throughout the book. I would actually quallify this book as a Historical Fiction because of all the customs and culture difference...more
It's been such a long time since I've read this book that I was very anxious to read it again because I remembered that I'd liked it before. I remembered some parts of the book, and yet other parts stood out to me that didn't before. Here are some of them:
1) The rich Indian history told throughout the book. I would actually quallify this book as a Historical Fiction because of all the customs and culture difference...more
Oldie but goody. Read many years ago, but it made a huge impact on me. I was so entranced by many of the characters, including bigger than life Mike & his fierce determination to beat the challenges of the wilderness and better others in one crisis after another; the people themselves who suffered many hardships, yet chose to stay. And, of course, Mrs. Mike. Her humanness touched my heart. Choosing to go with Mike, her courage in a land like she had never seen before was to be admired. But o...more
This books reminds me of the Little House on the Prairie books in that it tells stories of wild frontiers, just in a more adult fashion. When I say adult, I mean the characters are young adults, or older adults for that matter, but the content is wholesome and fine for younger readers.
This book also reminded me a bit of Angle of Repose because the young female character in both stories is a bit of a fish out of water in a new element.
I figured the tales contained within the story of Mike and Kat...more
This book also reminded me a bit of Angle of Repose because the young female character in both stories is a bit of a fish out of water in a new element.
I figured the tales contained within the story of Mike and Kat...more
I first read this when I was about 12 and going through a very rough period in my life. This book is *not* an upbeat book - it has lots of death, one man has to get his leg SAWED off, with only a bottle of whiskey as an anesthetic. But I must've read this book 10 times - It got me out of my own sad world into another, sad, yet somehow more exciting world. It takes place at the turn of the 20th century in the Northern Territories of Canada. I picutred myself to be the heroine of this book - an Ir...more
Katherine Mary is a sixteen year old girl when she’s sent to her uncle in the ”uncivilized” North by her reluctant mother in hopes that the cool, dry climate will cure her pleurisy and strengthen her weak constitution. In that vast wilderness, Kathy finds not only healing and strength but a love that makes the overwhelming loss, death and upheaval inherent to that rugged landscape worth the sacrifice. It is a love of steady passion and devotion, one that withstands and grows even in the face of...more
I loved the setting of this story which was in the late 1800’s in the deepest heart of the Canadian territory. You read about a young woman who is from a rather prominent American city, but because of her illness (I think it's consumption) she goes to Canada to live with her uncle where she can breathe easier. Once in the beautiful setting of her uncle’s home she instantly falls in love with a rather confident young man whom most call Mr. Mike. He is a Mountie. I love his character. They go thro...more
This was a book club read, and was familiar in a comforting way because of the years I spent in Alaska. The Canadian Frontier was not for wimps. My heart ached for Mrs. Mike and the challenges that she faced trying to keep her marriage alive, and raise small children among one of the world's harshest climates. From personal experience, you just don't realize how hard it is in the arctic circle until you've tried to live there.
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Benedict 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. F...more
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“You'll see, you'll come to understand. These big things, these terrible things, are not the important ones. If they were, how could one go on living? No, it is the small, little things that make up a day, that bring fullness and happiness to a life.”
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Mar 19, 2009 04:19pm
I know how you feel. I recommended this bo...more
Feb 01, 2011 04:22pm