Mrs. Mike

Review by Zonya Gingrich

Mrs. Mike
by Benedict and Nancy Freedman

Recently I asked for suggestions for my 8th grader for a year of Canadian History. You all did not disappoint. My gift back for all the suggestions is a review for a book I hadn’t seen mentioned on here before.

Mrs. Mike is a tremendous story about a young woman, a girl really, who moves from Boston, MA to live with her uncle in Alberta because of health issues. There she meets a Mountie 10 years her senior, falls in love with him, and marries him (at age 16, just warning you!). She marries him knowing that his assignment will take him far north, and that she is giving up life as she knew it before, that she may never again see her mother, that hardship will be the story of her life. It is good that she can’t see just how much hardship there will be, because, just like the rest of us, she begins to question her decisions when the hardest thing of all happens. I won’t give too many spoilers, but do know that there are definite Content Considerations here. You’ll find depictions of domestic abuse, terrible tragedies of fire and disease which kill many, murder, alcohol abuse, issues regarding the treatment of First Nations people which are concerning, some offensive language, deep sorrow and grief, medical tragedies that are almost too hard to read. Again, be warned. But don’t stay away. The thread of Kathy and Mike’s deep love for each other is the golden one that holds it all together. Will I hand it to my 8th grader? I am still undecided. Do I recommend that older teens and adults read it? Absolutely.

If you loved Christy by Catherine Marshall, I’m going to bet you’ll love this one.

One quote to whet your appetite. Kathy has just met Constance, who will become one of her dearest friends. Constance has told her life story, one which is so sad it hurts to read it. Then there is this:

“I didn’t know what to say. I closed the window and fastened it, to give me something to do. She watched me, and when I had finished she said, “Katherine Mary, we’re going to know each other very well, for many years, I hope. You’ll see, you’ll come to understand. These big things, these terrible things, are not the important ones. If they were, how could one go on living? No, it is the small, little things that make up a day, that bring fullness and happiness to a life. Your Sergeant coming home, a good dinner, your little Mary laughing, the smell of the woods--oh, so many things, you know them yourself.”

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