Monday, April 2, 2012

Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman

Genre: Historical Fiction
Published: Jan. 2002 by Berkley Trade (First published 1947), 320 pp.
Source: Library
Review: 5/5 stars

Brief Summary: (From Goodreads.com) 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.


My Thoughts: The reason I posted a review of These Is My Words recently was because I wanted to be able to compare it to Mrs. Mike.  I loved this book.  I read it several years ago when I was pregnant with my first child.  I really liked it then but my taste in books has changed a little over the last few years so I wasn't sure if I would like it as much this time around.  It was just as good, if not better.  To me, Mrs. Mike and These Is My Words are very similar in the following ways:

  • Both are told by a young female protagonist in first person
  • Similar historic time period (one set in late 1800's, the other in early 1900's)
  • Both protagonists absolutely adore their husbands
  • Each of them endure severe trials
  • Both married peace-keeping military men

Even though they are similar I much prefer Mrs. Mike.  She seemed so much more real to me than Sarah Prine did.  Maybe that's just because Katherine Flannigan was a real person but many fictional characters can seem very real.  Katherine had flaws and I enjoyed watching her overcome them.  Sarah was always just too perfect and too strong for every occasion.  I also preferred Katherine and Sergeant Mike's relationship over Sarah and Captain Elliot's relationship.

Mrs. Mike made me laugh out loud but also made me cry.  That's a great combination in my book.

Recommendations:  I would recommend this book to all those who loved, or didn't love, These Is My Words.  If you haven't read that book but you like a sweet romance and a historical book that will make you laugh and cry, then this is a great book for you.  The best part, it's a clean read.


Ratings:  1.3.2  There is a some violence dealing with the dangers of frontier life, and there's also some profanity but fairly mild if I remember right.


Thanks for reading!

9 comments:

Jenny said...

LOL! I guess I just like fiction and unrealistic romance because I preferred These is my Words. I did appreciate the realistic romance in Mrs. Mike but I didn't like that scary moment when you didn't know if everything would be OK.

Gerbera Daisy Diaries said...

Like jenny...I much preferred TIMW. Didn't like Mrs. Mike much at all in fact. Loved your comparison.

Laura at Library of Clean Reads said...

I've read good things about Mrs Mike and have it listed as one of the classics I want to eventually read.

Not quite the Bradys said...

Thanks for posting this! I loved These Is My Words and have been hankering for a similar book so I'm excited to read this. And I'm glad you're back. :)

Susan said...

I haven't heard of MRS. MIKE before, but if it's like TIMW, or better, I should probably check it out. It will be worth the read just for the fun of comparing it to TIMW :)

Suey said...

I so want to read this one sometime still. Argh.

Jenn said...

Hi, Kim! I'm newer to your blog, and after some debate about which post to comment on, I decided to go with Mrs. Mike, as that is my favorite of the books I've read from your recommendations. After many reading misadventures because of bad language, I was so frustrated! I googled "good clean reads" and lo and behold your blog came up. I then spent two days reading through every rating you've given, and reading the review if it had enough stars. I had never heard of Mrs. Mike before, and I'm so glad you introduced me to this book! It's been a while since I ENJOYED a book so thoroughly! Now I have called up my sisters to tell them to read it as well. I also read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and a couple of others bc of your reviews. Well, I'm stuck in bed each day bc of health problems, so I actually "listened" to them rather than "read" them, but it makes me feel more important to say "read." Anyway. I wanted to thank you so much for doing what you're doing! I love this resource. It's wonderful to stop wasting so many book credits on audible! I look forward to reading many more books and continuing to weed out the ones I won't like. You're like my own personal Netflix recommendations for literature. :) Haha. Have I gushed enough? :) Btw, I don't know how you haven't completely burned out of this- you go through books like... hmmm, what's a good metaphor? You go through books like I went through tissues during P.S. I Love You.
Also, I collect childrens books and just realized you probably read a lot of stories to your children. I'm curious if you or your kids have a favorite picture book.
Thanks again! Nice to "meet" you!
Jenn

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verbouwing van een rijwoning in oostende said...

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