The Prairie Wife

by Arthur Stringer

That’s me falling plump into the pool of matrimony before I’ve had time to fall in love!

Genres: Historical Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1915

About the author

1874-1950

Reviews

[Ron]

This is a novel that invites being read in different ways. For a while, I thought it was going to be a
satire, along the lines of Sinclair Lewis. Then it looked like it was going to turn into a melodrama about an unhappy marriage. After that it threatened to become a tragedy. But then nothing really adverse happened to anybody, and all ended quite happily.

The material is familiar, being about a young married couple making a life as wheat farmers on the Great Plains of Canada, somewhere between Winnipeg and Edmonton. In other western novels from the period, marriages founder as young wives fall victim to the malaise that comes with isolation and grueling work. The extremes of weather conditions take their toll, disease and accident claim lives, crops fail. Reality teaches harsh lessons if dreams themselves are not dashed completely. In this novel, we get a different kind of story. . .

Read my review at my blog.

[Krystal Perree]

I listened to the audiobook spoken by my sister Jennifer Perree and it was such a beautiful and engaging story!

Following the life Chaddie McHale as she details in her journal as she goes from worldly socialite to prairie wife.

What I appreciated about this story was that it did not romanticize prairie life at the turn of the century. It detailed living in poverty, making something out of nothing and giving this life your whole heart.

[Dianne Oliver]

A rather lighthearted telling of an unexpected young couple settling in the Canadian west. Written unobtrusively as letters to a friend in order to beat back lonliness, the story reveals their early, sometimes difficult, years with a tongue in cheek, positive attitude.
"A grass widow" - what a succinct term- Would make a good book title.

[Naulayne Raiche Enders]

I really enjoyed this one. A slightly spoiled young woman marries and moves to the Canadian prairie. It was told in a journal/ letter style. More about her maturing and growth without being maudlin. If you like Little House on the prairie, this a great adult book to read.

[Rhenda]

1915 The Prairie Wife by Arthur Stringer. Very pleasant bit of light reading. Engaging. Not much of a plot,and the story was plain, but the insight into the history was interesting, and the perspective, the characters and the writing style were all very pleasant and oddly relaxing. I recommend it.

[Aruna Reddy]

There is much of telling than showing. I mean the whole book is telling...

BUT

This author has a unique style to it. superbly talented with the word choice.
You will not regret completing the book. I loved the story, it's simple and yet heart touching...

[Dawn]

Charming novel of days gone by

[Audrey]

Very old-fashioned and a little racist, but funny and surprisingly frank in its writing about relationships. And some great writing about the southern Alberta prairie.

[Kim]

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