From the Bookshelf of Retro Reads…

Mrs. Mike (Mrs. Mike, #1)

Benedict Freedman,

Nancy Freedman

Start date: June 1, 2018

Finish date: June 30, 2018

Discussion: Group Reads

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What Members Thought

Feb 25, 2014 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: oldies-but-goodies, favorites, o-canada, coming-of-age, biography-autobiography

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 Fl 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. ...more

143 likes · Like · see review

Sep 01, 2013 Dorcas rated it it was amazing

Shelves: canada-alaska, adventure, historical-fiction, favorite-reads

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 ...more

21 likes · Like · see review

Jan 18, 2020 Anne rated it liked it

Shelves: owned, canadian-literature, 20th-century, military-heroes, gentleman-like-heroes, frontier-indians

*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. M ...more

17 likes · Like · see review

Sep 25, 2013 Tweety rated it it was amazing

Shelves: reviewed, cannada, country-living, gritty-pg-13, top-2013-reads, asylums, grab-during-fire

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 ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Mar 26, 2014 Hana rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2014-reads, romance, north-america, historical-fiction, adventure-spy

It was wonderful--I had tears in my eyes for most of the last half of the book. Such a hard and beautiful place, the North, with such tough, caring and dignified people.

Kathy's trip back to Boston was brilliant; that scene where she knocks on a mansion door in Beacon Hill and is refused a glass of water--and then she remembers all the empty trappers cabins up North stocked with wood and provisions and never locked so that any stranger can come in, take shelter and be warm and fed. Kathy matures ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Jul 29, 2013 Elinor rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: pioneer-memoirs-fiction

I read this book when I was younger, and again this year. Some books don't stand the test of time, but this one did. I loved the adventures experienced by this young girl when she married a Mountie, and suffered along with her when the northern wilderness almost broke her spirit and her marriage. It's one of those novels that stay with you forever. ...more

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Mar 21, 2014 Diane Lynn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance, historical-fiction, canada, adventure

Really 4.5 stars

First line:

The worst winter in fifty years, the old Scotsman had told me. I'd only been around for sixteen, but it was the worst I'd seen, and I was willing to take his word for the other thirty-four.

This is a sweet romance and part adventure story set in the wilds of northern Canada during the early 1900's. What I enjoyed most was watching Katherine Mary mature over the years. She had to make due with very little in an extremely harsh environment. One sees the good and the bad o ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jul 10, 2016 Carinne Gee rated it it was ok

Shelves: did-not-finish

I got nearly 1/2 way with this and I just wasn't interested. I didn't realize it was so much about the native population. Not terribly interesting to me. This book is beloved by many. I just couldn't get into it. Maybe at another time I would like it better. The main character kind of annoyed me. She's pretty immature....which was probably accurate. Also, the fact that I live in Alaska and am very familiar with living in the North, much of what was discussed didn't seem very accurate to me. Anyw ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 22, 2012 Samantha Glasser rated it really liked it

Shelves: library-has-it-on-audiobook, non-fiction, adapted-to-screen

At the turn of the century, life was much harder than it is today, partially because of the amount of untamed wilderness in this country. We often attribute a difficult life with sorrow and desperation, but this story portrays life in the north as a rewarding and happy one. It is based on the real-life experiences of Kathy Flannigan, a woman who met the authors and shared her story.

Mrs. Mike begins when Kathy is traveling to meet her uncle who lives in the north in a city. She suffers from pleur ...more

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