When Calls the Heart: Canadian West, Book 1

Loved it it is such a good story of how west Canadians lived and the struggles that they had. I truly loved it!

When Calls the Heart, is a wonderful book about a young teacher. She wants her pupils, who never had a teacher before, to learn and see the beauty of western Canada. Elizabeth organizes a fund raiser for an injured student. Along the way, she has to learn about mice, fire building, and so much more. The more is the romance, read it and enjoy!

Janette Oke's novels were the first romance fiction I ever read. I read them in middle school once I had exhausted my own library of books and decided to raid my mom's and my older sister's. I first read the Love Comes Softly Series (my favorite), then the Season's of the Heart series (which I did not like), and the Canadian West (which falls somewhere in the middle). This is without a doubt the best book in the Canadian West series. Elizabeth Thatcher is described by her mother as being a "sensible school teacher" in a letter to her brother, which she no doubt is. But, she is also funny, resourceful, kind, independent, inquisitive, observant and emotionally stable. Elizabeth is unique for her time period because she's not interested in getting married which is a big part of her character-until she meets a guy who is also not interested in getting married. They enter a kind of will they/won't they relationship that is hindered by misunderstanding and long distance. I have 2 criticisms of this book. **Spoilers** First, Janette Oke does not give a compelling reason why Elizabeth originally leaves for the west. If it was for the reasons we are told, it is made very clear that her mother would not be happy with the situation Elizabeth ends up in, and she and her brother even decide not to tell her. The shenanigans which ensue make for good storytelling, but leave a gaping hole in the original motivation. Secondly and more importantly, we don't get to see what Wynn Delany is thinking and why he likes Elizabeth. I can only surmise that he mainly likes that she's pretty because her independence and capability seem completely lost on him in the second book where we actually get scenes from his perspective. However, if you look at this book alone, Wynn's motivations are quite mysterious. The only thing we know clearly is that he does not want to get married, which is told to us several times by Elizabeth's sister-on-law, Mary and by Wynn. How Wynn's character arc ends up occurring, we are not told. Anyway, these criticisms are nitpicking because the book is decent and depicts a strong independent woman for the time. However, I don't recommend continuing with the series as this strong woman disappears in the next book.

I recently watched season 1 on CBC and enjoyed the show enough to purchase the DVD for season 2 since I didn't want to wait a year to see the next season and I was curious about the drastic change in tone and look from season 1 after reading the various comments here. One thing I noticed is that, although the show features a Mountie and is set in the Canadian West, I don't think the word "Canada" has been uttered once. Neither has any city like Calgary or Vancouver so that the audience can figure out where Hope Valley may be and how long it takes to travel to this fictional city of "Hamilton". Really? Do the producers think that Americans won't watch a television show that is set outside of their own country? I thought we were beyond such nonsense. Have they heard of Downton Abbey, Heartland or Murdoch Mysteries? There has been mention in the show of American cities, American inventions, an American president, a lawyer appointed by the "State" (yikes), and American slang such as "Ma" and "Pa". It's like they want to completely obliterate where the show is actually set. I think setting the show in this mythical land of "nowhere" does a disservice to viewers. In any event, the cast continues to do a wonderful job with the mediocre scripts they are given. I do miss a lot of the characters from the first season. If they intend to continue to show Elizabeth's family, then they really need to flesh out those characters more in season 3. I think Elizabeth's aunt may turn out to be a kindred spirit based on what we've seen of her so far. Her elder sister is too one-dimensional to be believed. The period clothing is beautiful, however I agree with other reviewers who state that the hairstyles in season 2 are totally inaccurate. With a few exceptions, they do look present day. There is no way women would have worn their hair down in daily life like that. What are the producers thinking? Photographs of 1910 fashion are easily available to work from. It's like they just don't care. Here's hoping that season 3 shows more historical accuracy with better scripts.

As many have mentioned, Season 2 is not as good as Season 1. That being said, it is a necessary season for understanding the series. The third season that follows is really good and I have already watched that on the Hallmark Channel. Therefore, if you liked Season 1, you must watch Season 2, so that you can watch Season 3.My biggest beef with this collection is that it does not come with subtitles that have been done well. You can use your "mute" setting to have sub-standard subtitles with many typos. It would have been nice for the deaf and hard of hearing, if the subtitles were done well. I have voiced this complaint to Hallmark, because the level of subtitles has dropped on all of their shows and movies. It wasn't this bad even a year ago. They never responded to my e-mail, so I don't know the reason for it.Lastly, I am a big fan of this show and I really do like the characters. That's probably why Season 2 is hard to watch. Elizabeth spends a lot of time away from Jack and when they are together, they constantly have problems. It makes for a lot of tension and almost made me want to stop watching. But, it gets better!!! Elizabeth realizes that money and having an easy life are not in keeping with who she is.

I liked it very much. It is a book, so I used it for reading

Fantastic book that is easy to read. I fell in love with the When Calls the Heart tv show (which is not based on this book see When Courage Calls) and I decided to read one of Jeanette Oke's books. Once I started I could not put it down. I'm a 24 year old married Catholic and I loved reading about the old values and morals that my generation have been robbed of. It's a relief to read a book with no sex, violence or bad language. I love the emphasis on the need for God in your life and how Elizabeth holds the values she has been taught from a young age dear to her. Its a book about risk, courage, family, community and most of all being the best version of yourself you can be. Thank you Jeanette Oke for writing a book anyone of any age can enjoy.

I just loved this story as it took me back nearly twenty years to when I was a nineteen year old, on an exchange year to a university near Toronto and went with two other girls on a trip out West. I used to love to read Janette Oke then but don't think I've read this book before. I could relate to this story about the differences between Ontario and the West, even though a lot of time has passed since the setting of this story. I loved the descriptions of the Rockies. It made me yearn to be back there. I identified with the woman who gave up everything and had to start again in a new place, with no belongings to begin with. It built me up as I read about this young woman building up her life. I look out of my windows here in the UK - it's a beautiful setting - Pride and Prejudice country - the Derbyshire Dales and the Peak District - but oh how I yearn for the Rockies!!! Maybe one day I'll see them again!

I love this set of books in the Canadian West series. The characters are well thought out and despite hardships and suffering, a positive message is thread throughout all the novels. I bought the whole series (6 in all) on Kindle and I have really enjoyed reading them all.

Good

I have to give this 5* as I am not an avid book reader, yet read this very quickly as I could really identify with the main character's job etc.It is quite a different setting to the TV series, but the underlying feel is pretty similar ie uplifting way to cope with life's twists and turns.