REVIEW: Mrs. Mike by Benedict Freedman and Nancy Freedman
Mrs. Mike’ is a love story, a true story; the story of Katherine Mary O’Fallon, a sixteen year-old Irish girl from Boston, and Sergeant Mike Flannigan of the Canadian Mounted Police who meet at her uncle’s ranch in Alberta, Canada where she is sent to recover from pleurisy. They meet, they court, they marry and, following Mike’s orders, move to Hudson’s Hope far into the interior of Alberta.
But it is more than a love story between two people: it is also a love story of the land and animals, of the beavers and the ice, the northern lights and the fires, of whooping cough and whiskey running. It is a love story of the First Peoples and their struggles, the immigrants and their hopes and all the people who came and went through Mike and Kathy’s lives.
Review
Dear Readers,
Of course I’d heard of this book but up until now, I’d only made plans to – someday, I swear – read it. It’s one of those books that when the title is mentioned, loyal fans chime in about it, urging you to get a copy and fondly telling you why it’s so wonderful. I think I might have even bought myself a used paperback at one time though to find it among my TBR piles, stacks, bookshelves and boxes would be a miracle. Digital to the rescue.
So what can I add to a review about it? Well, let’s see. From the start I was charmed by Kathy, her wry sense of humor, her dog Juno and her determination. Sometimes that will get her into trouble but thank heavens, not once is it linked to her hair color. She’s young and acts it at times. She can be stubborn as well as independent – that last will also stand her in good stead over the years. In Sergeant Mike of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police she finds a rare love and when he says he’d work himself to death to make her happy, I believe it.
Of course it’s obvious from their first meeting that each is smitten with the other though Kathy holds out for a little while. Her age and their age difference gave me a little pause but then in 1907, those things wouldn’t have mattered as much. They not only loved each other, they loved the land, the people and the wildlife of the Canadian wilderness and Kathy loved Mike teaching her more each day about it.
There is hardship and not just in swarms of mosquitoes that could carry off baby moose, or sledding for weeks through winter temperatures that could freeze the air in your nostrils, or standing for hours in waist deep water to save yourself from a raging forest fire. There’s also violence and cruelty and racism and disease. If you’re an animal lover, avoid the second half of chapter three. If you have survived domestic abuse, well there’s going to be a lot to trigger you. If you’ve read about the recent settlement by the Canadian government for Indian victims of forced adoptions, well this book won’t make you feel any better about how Indians were treated.
Mike is tireless in his efforts on behalf of all the people for whom he is responsible but Kathy has a few moments of paternalism and “she knows best” with her civilized ways and notions. Thankfully this mostly falls by the wayside as she gets older and lives among the Cree longer. The diphtheria epidemic that sweeps the village is hard to read about though. And there’s one character who seems to have been born to sorrow with WWI and the 1918 flu epidemic being the final ones.
But there is great beauty as well with vivid pictures being painted for me of Alberta and its wildlife. There is understated humor in listening to Kathy’s Uncle John weave stories or deciding whether or not to let Mike take her to a dance. Mike and Kathy strike sparks on each other before giving wholeheartedly into their love and marriage and Kathy does mature enough to appreciate the strengths and hardships of her new home in comparison to “civilized” Boston.
I will be honest and say that some passages and scenes during the second half of the book got a mite tedious and I might have skimmed to the bottom of the page a time or three but count me in as an enthusiastic believer who will now say “Oh, you just have to read this book.” B
~Jayne
AmazonBNKoboBook DepositoryGoogle
I first read this book in 8th grade (Nixon was president, if that gives you any idea how long ago that was) and love, love, loved it—and I have reread it occasionally through the years. It’s good to keep in mind the old adage, “you never read the same book twice because you’re always a different person when you read the book again,” and this is absolutely true with “problematic” books like MRS. MIKE (and many others—especially GONE WITH THE WIND) where, as you get older, you see the racism, paternalism, and cliched representations of minorities but you can’t completely disavow a book you loved so blindly in your youth. I think you did a nice job of balancing the things that are objectionable with the things that are interesting and entertaining in MRS. MIKE. Incidentally, Katherine Flannigan, the real-life Mrs. Mike, also wrote a book, called iirc THE FAITH OF MRS. KELLEEN. I have it around the house somewhere, but I’m not sure I ever read it.
I LOVED this book back in the day (a very long ago day) and my mom loved it, too. In Nov 2013, I stumbled across the digital and sent it to my Mom’s Kindle and I’ve been thinking about pulling it up on mine, but maybe it’s best left as a book I really loved back in the day.
@DiscoDollyDeb:
I totally agree with what you are saying about older books. I kind of cringe when I tell people that “Gone With the WInd” is one of my favorite books, that I first read it in junior high, but I can’t disavow the books that shaped me.
@DiscoDollyDeb:
I totally agree with what you are saying about older books. I kind of cringe when I tell people that “Gone With the WInd” is one of my favorite books, that I first read it in junior high, but I can’t disavow the books that shaped me.@DiscoDollyDeb:
I fell in love with reading because of this book. When I was in the 7th grade I borrowed it from my junior high school library. I read it and reread it so often the librarian gave it to me at the end of the school year. I’ve read it a number of times as an adult and still love it.
I liked Mrs. Mike, which I read in, I think, Jr High. Possibly 5th or 6th grade. I remembered it so vividly that I got it when Dear Author noted that it was free a few years ago. I still liked it. I don’t remember a problem with racism in the book. I thought there was some understanding of the cultural differences and often hints as to why the Inuit characters did things that made no sense to Kathy. There was a fair amount of Inuit domestic violence, but then, there was a lot of white domestic violence, too. For the most part, you didn’t get a sense that the average white man was better than the average Inuit man, although Mr. and Mrs. Mike clearly thought the lousy white men should know better.
OTOH, Gone with the Wind has extensive black slave characters who are white fantasies or solely seen from the white POV. Prissy is about 13 when she is introduced. Scarlett comments she looked sly, but had a ‘studiedly stupid expression.’ Most readers find Prissy the most objectionable character because she is seen solely through Scarlett’s POV. But in reality, playing stupid is the only way Prissy gets time to herself or out of things she doesn’t want to do. Anyone who has ever tried to get work out of a 13 year old girl will recognize Prissy’s total lack of enthusiasm for her chores. But more importantly, she has zero motive for promptly and efficiently doing the tasks Scarlett demands and Scarlett never once thanks Prissy. Instead, Prissy is seen as a kind of stupid slacker, when in reality, she’s a young teen stuck in a life of endless, thankless servitude and coping with it as best she can.
My first read and reread were about 40 years apart. On the reread, I gave it 5 stars and my only note was “As good as I remembered it to be”. If only all my rereads held up as well.
Thank you for the review.
Thanks for an interesting review and comments. Having loved the book back in the day, I’ve been afraid to reread it for fear that it wouldn’t hold up. Nice to know it does (with thoughtful concessions for original publication date) for both new readers and long-time fans.
@nblibgirl: One thing I found interesting is how Mike approaches the problems of others – like the belligerent Scot and the Indian woman who won’t leave him or press charges – with almost a modern psychological examination of the reasons for why people keep doing what they’re doing. Ditto for the father of the young boy at the first settlement where they have to survive the forest fire.
@Tara Marie: That’s a great librarian!
I loved this book! I think I was 12-14 the first time I read it. Back in the dark ages, as DiscoDollyDeb says above. Same time frame as DiscoDollyDeb. I cried so hard when diptheria struck, as only a teenage girl can. I haven’t ever re-read the book.
Went to see how much the book costs and discovered I picked up this book for free in 2013. Go me! :)