From the Bookshelf of Easley Library Bookworms…

Mrs. Mike (Mrs. Mike, #1)

Benedict Freedman,

Nancy Freedman

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Feb 16, 2008 Werner rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction

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 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. ...more

14 likes · Like · see review

Group Home Bookshelf Discussions

Photos Videos

Send invite Members Polls