Too Long a Stranger

Women of the West #9

by Janette Oke

The sudden death of her husband had left Sarah Perry and her baby Rebecca alone in their small frontier town. But Sarah resolves for Rebecca's sake to put her life back together and go on. And to everyone's surprise, Sarah finds a way. But the choices forced upon her by life on the frontier are very hard. The most difficult decision comes when Sarah determines that the best thing for her little daughter's future is to send her away to boarding school.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Christian, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romance, Historical, Christian Romance

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Janette Oke is a Canadian author known for her inspirational fiction, often set in a pioneer era and focused on female protagonists. Her debut novel, Love Comes Softly (1979), became the foundation for a successful series, followed by over 75 other novels. The first book in her Canadian West series, When Calls the Heart (1983), inspired the popular television series of the same name.
Born in Champion, Alberta, to farmers Fred and Amy (née Ruggles) Steeves during the Great Depression, Oke went on to graduate from Mountain View Bible College in Didsbury, Alberta, where she met her future husband, Edward Oke, who later became the president of the college. The couple has four children, including a daughter who has collaborated with Janette on several books.
A committed Evangelical Christian, Oke has authored numerous works exploring themes of faith. She has received various accolades for her contributions to Christian fiction, including the 1992 President's Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association and the 1999 CBA Life Impact Award.

Reviews

[Shirley Chapel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book nine of the woman of the West series by Janette Oke. At first I wasn't too sure that I liked this book. It seemed that Sarah Perry made a lot of mistakes when it came to her young daughter. True Sarah was left with a lot on her plate when her husband died suddenly and left her alone to raise their baby daughter. Sarah was very independent and proud and refused to except help from her friends after her husband died so suddenly. She didn't know what she could do to make a living for herself and her daughter. She decided to carry on her husband's business carrying freight from the railroad station in another town to the town where she lived. Sarah was a dainty small woman but she was determined that she would do this mens job even though it would be hard for her.
After time she adapted to the heavy lifting and being forced to be out driving a team and wagon in any kind of weather. Money was always scarce and many sacrifices were made. Wanting her daughter to be raised as a lady she saved and done without in order to send Rebecca away to a boarding school far from home . So at age six the child was sent off to the girls school where she stayed till she graduated. Sarah could not afford to bring Rebecca home for the summer months. It was all she could do to pay the school's fees.
After graduation Rebecca returned home but had trouble adapting to life in the West. She was used to better and didn't much care for the life her mother had to offer her. Rebecca was ashamed of her Mother because she ran a Freight wagon. She dressed terrible and didn't have any servants working in her home. The girl didn't care for this kind of life and wanted to leave and go back to living with her friends in the city.
One would say that Rebecca was selfish but then I felt Sarah made a huge mistake sending the girl away to get an education . Why couldn't Rebecca have attended school in the town where Sarah lived. Sarah wanted her daughter to be raised to be a lady so one should not be surprised when after graduating Rebecca returned home being uppity and finding fault with the way things were at home. This could have been so different if only Sarah had kept the girl at home with her all those years. Rebecca couldn't even remember her Mother after having left her at such a young age and not seeing her again till after graduation.
I did enjoy the story but was disappointed in Sarah for the decision she made concerning her daughter. I wasn't overly fond of the rushed ending. I have always loved Janette Okes writing but even though I liked this story it fell a little short in my opinion and I felt it was quite sad at times.
Readers of Historical Fiction will enjoy this book. This would be great for a family book.
I borrowed a copy of this book from the Hoopla library. A review was not requested. All opinions expressed here are my own.

[R.A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has always been one of my favourites, even if it's rather bittersweet! But more about that later!

The Characters:
Sarah - quite an independent woman, but one can't help but feel sorry for her! She worked so hard for her daughter! <3 I wish she had asked for Boyd's help more often though!
Boyd - *squeals* I love him! He was so thoughtful and kind to poor Sarah! He's so sweet to Rebecca as well!!
Rebecca - I loved her more as a child than a grown up, but that's understandable! ;) Her and her proper ways got on my nerves, but she couldn't really help it! I'm so glad she understands later on! (I won't mention the couple times she was trying to get a guys attention! :D)
Mrs. Galvan - aww! She was so sweet!
Seth - :) He was amazing! His spiritual life was incredible! He was such a help to those who really needed it! <3
Can I also mention that the men in this book worked so hard? It was so amazing!

The Story-line:
It wasn't boring, that's for sure! The main lady worked as a freight hauler to get enough money to care for her daughter! It was so touching! The story-line also had the salvation message throughout which was wonderful! And in the end, the prodigal son story was definitely an aspect!

Content:
Every once in a while, girls would mention guys noticing them or their other friends. One "romantic" walk. A young man kisses a girl's hand. An unmarried man and lady hug, but it wasn't for love - rather for comfort. Nothing inappropriate.

All-in-all:
This book is amazing, folks! If you haven't read it, I'd advise you do! I can't exactly spill out the major bittersweet part because it is rather a spoiler! You'd have to read it to find out! :) I've lost count on how many time I've read this beauty!

Also, I shouldn't have been reading this since I was already reading a couple other books. But since this one was in book-form and the others aren't, it was rather easy to pick up, sit on my bed, and read it! :D

<3 Five Stars! <3

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, this was one of the best so far! And Janette Oke's plots are insanely amusing and creative.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was better than some of the other Women of the West books but it still had some problems. The ending felt very rushed and neither Sarah nor Rebecca were sympathetic characters. I can't imagine shipping my child across the country to be without me for years.

I wanted to admire Sarah for her strength and determination to be independent and take care of herself and her child by working a man's job. But instead she came off rather cold and pathetic and too indulgent of her child. When she returned home, Rebecca should have still been young enough to need parenting and instead Sarah apologized for giving her the rebuke she needed and deserved. And then she was just going to let her leave after only being home for a few months and not only not try to convince her to stay but to take out a loan to pay for her ticket. What utter nonsense and terrible parenting.

I also wanted to see Sarah warm up to one of the two men who cared for her and have some sort of romance with them, but nothing. Rebecca's romance was just glossed over at the end of the book and Seth came off as a bit of a know-it-all goody-goody.

I did enjoy the struggles, hardships, and sense of community, especially in the first part of the book before Rebecca gets shipped off to school. It was worth reading, I just couldn't put myself into the story or its characters' shoes.

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[Adele · Rating 2 out of 5]

So far, I am not a fan of this series. It was hard to believe that a cultured woman could haul freight and work as hard as a man especially in the days before the feminist movement. Sarah was too stubborn and independent. As a mother, I totally understand wanting to take care of my child, but she had two very nice men who were willing to help. She sent her daughter away to be educated and cultured and was basically raised by another family. She turned out to be spoiled and selfish and her change was also not believable.

[Leesa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed other books by Janette Oke but this one had me irritated. Sarah was too proud and Rebecca was selfish and entitled. It was annoying! I'm glad it turned out but it was hard to relate to the characters because of how annoying they were

[Sarah Brazytis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not enjoy this one at all. Why not remarry? Why keep doing a job that you can't physically do? Why send your child away to another world? And why bring her back to the world she left? I don't know; I just couldn't find any logic in this story.

[Jomariem · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually enjoy most of Jeanette Oke's books, but I was disappointed in this one. At first, the storyline sounds great. An independent widowed woman decides to make some major sacrifices so that her daughter can have a good education, but the ending made me wish that she had just kept her daughter home for all those years. Sarah came across as WAY too independent for me, and then she sent her daughter off to a fancy school where she learned how to become accustomed to ways of wealthy people, and then Sarah was disappointed because her daughter wanted to return to the people she had grown up with instead of staying in a sleepy western town. True, Rebecca was a brat at times and I'm not excusing her behavior, but I feel like that was partially Sarah's felt because she set her daughter up to want the finer things in life, and because of the long separation, there was no real mother/daughter bonding. She could have easily kept her daughter with her and Rebecca would have still turned out fine, especially since they seemed to be living in a nice town and they weren't exactly in dire financial straits at the time Rebecca went away. I have a hard time being sympathetic to either character in this story, really. Even the ending didn't really come across as satisfying for me, and seemed a bit rushed and unrealistic. IMO, this is not one of Jeanette Oke's best books. For a better read, pick up the Love Comes Softly series, Roses For Mama, or Heart Of The Wilderness.

[Shana · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Difficult Read

The whole book I was hoping for happiness for the two women. They never made choices to make their life better or happy until at the last page. I usually love this author, but this book was my least favorite.

[Chrystal Hogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was beautifully written. It has made me appreciate my parents even more.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is very good, inspiring, but calls for a sequel. I don't know if there was one.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an easy and engaging read, but I was not a huge fan. While I admired the mom's independence, I felt it went beyond independence into stubbornness and stupidity. I didn't like the girl, but her issues were a direct result of her mom's choices. I wish the book would have shared some of their time living in harmony, not just ending with this nice feeling that they got right with each other.

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.75 stars on other, more-nuanced platforms.

I have long been a fan of Janette Oke's Love Comes Softly series. There are a couple other series that I have also liked. I haven't had as much luck with her Women of the West series, though, which has been decidedly hit or miss for me. They have run the gamut from forgettable to moving, mediocre to downright disliked -- for any number of reasons. I don't know if it's that I am more drawn to her character development in a true series, while this "series" is just a group of standalone novels with a similar theme but otherwise unrelated or what.

What I liked about Too Long a Stranger:
The peripheral characters - Boyd and the rest of the Galvans. Alex Murray. Seth Oliver. I enjoyed the scenes where these characters made an appearance. They were easy to root for -- decent, solid people, with kind hearts, and worthwhile lessons to contribute.
Decent premise and message - I could see the scaffolding of a good story, both in the circumstances and in the lessons to be learned. I wish they could have come to fruition, but I will still give some credit for potential, especially since it was that potential that kept me turning pages despite gritting my teeth.

What I didn't care for:
The two main characters - I honestly never grew to like either Sarah or Rebecca. Sarah was stubborn, prideful, callous, and had an unhealthy obsession with her child. Rebecca was a thoughtless, prissy brat. What made it worse is that whatever redemption there was came so late that I couldn't really appreciate it and see its rewards.
An abrupt ending that held little resolution - Along that line, I almost felt like just at what might have proved a turning point, the book simply concluded. After enduring all the character flaws, I got virtually no payout for either of the leading ladies. This might have held some redeeming value for the book itself, but instead it fell flat.
The speaking dialogue - It's been a long time since a book actually made me cringe nearly every time a person spoke. There was this stammering, broken cadence to the speech that made me want to light my hair on fire. I understand that Ms Oke was attempting to catch the pauses in the way people talk when they are thinking as they speak, but it was literally nearly every exchange, with not just pauses but repeated words, and with that degree of overuse, it lost its effect. As a result, I found myself skimming anything in quotation marks.
The banker - Expanding on the dialogue issue, the banker also interspersed his speech with randomly interjected 'ah's. On top of that, he was a slimy, squirmy, gross character. I wasn't sorry when we stopped having to endure scenes with him.

Worth noting:
Without a doubt Christian historical fiction - This is a subgenre that I am sure will only appeal to some. It's very clean, for those who require that in a novel, and while it doesn't preach in your face, it isn't isn't ashamed to speak the Gospel truths.

Thankfully, this book was easy enough to read, so that prevented me from getting bogged down. I am going to feel ambivalent about this series going forward, given my track record, but there have been times that Ms Oke delivers some incredibly edifying messages in her books. This just was not one of them.

[Nadine Keels · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is at least the third time I've read this novel since I first discovered it in the '90s. I remember enjoying it back then, enough to buy my own copy after first borrowing one from the library. But unfortunately, this book has turned out to be my least favorite revisit to the Women of the West series in recent years.

At this stage of my adult life, it was more difficult for me, in a way, to read about Sarah's plight. Not because her situation is hard but because she makes it even harder on herself than it has to be. She refuses help from others more than is necessary.

Also, it's one thing if you're an introvert and prefer to be alone. Not everyone who's alone is lonely. But the way Sarah takes to self-isolating and turns down offers of friendship and company from kind people, choosing loneliness for herself, makes her plight even more...miserable. It didn't feel great for me to watch a grown-up woman character sitting around on a day off with her hours empty. No interests or pursuits to fill her time. When she isn't hauling freight to earn money to take care of her daughter, Sarah pretty much has no life of her own.

As for Rebecca, the story eventually shows some glimpses of her girlhood years. However, those glimpses are really too brief and simplistic to make her much of an interesting character, I think. And the ending of her story, the ending of the novel, is rushed, poorly developed.

Also, as it is in a number of this author's earlier works, the heroine is frequently in tears, perhaps even more than is usual for this series. With references to Sarah, and then later Rebecca too, either crying or trying not to cry or breaking down and sobbing in what seems to be a third or more of the scenes throughout the book, the tears were just too repetitive for me.

On a more technical note, also like others of these earlier works, much of the characters' dialogue (and sometimes the narration as well) is so choppy, with numerous dashes breaking up the flow of words every few beats. What was distracting for me even when I was younger was more distracting for me now as a retired editor.

Granted, my copy of this book is the first paperback edition. I don't know if any of the later editions have been reedited.

Yet, with all that said, something in me still found the overall read to be relaxing. Woven with good intentions, and easy to digest. While I doubt I'll make any more visits to this particular novel in the future, I still consider a few of the books in this series to be some of my best "comfort reads" to go back to whenever my mood for them cycles back around.

[Heidi Morrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read as a teenager, and then again in college! My Mom has passed these down to me, and I am so thankful!

[Falsa Indentidad · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lonesome widow struggle to survive the cruelty of the world by sacrificing her feminine nature and needs to provide for her only child Becky. However, her ingratitude to the Galvans, who spare no effort to see to the woman needs, fire back at the end. As instead of rising an independent and dainty little lady, Sarah, creates ungrateful little lady who disdained and looked down at her mother. However, thanks to Boyd and Seth that things turn right, eventually.

[Kalmar Shuffler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like every Janette Oke book, Too Long A Stranger was well written and intriguing in its own way, but, also like her books, I'm left wanting more at the end. The ending comes a bit too suddenly and I'm sitting here with lots of questions that won't ever get answered.
I wasn't a big fan of Sarah or Rebecca. Both are pretty stubborn in different ways and multiple times I wanted to yell at them. 🫠
I enjoyed it overall, but it's not my favorite JO book.

[GJ S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clean historical christian novel

I loved the story and the characters were easy to relate to. I loved learning about the job opportunities of women in that time period. I really enjoyed the parts where the Lord was central in the lives. I recommend the book and the author

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story that is probably repeated too often, but these stories always remind me that I need to rely on my Savior and that the blessings I enjoy are because of His grace.

[Amulya N Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed the book.Really loved how the story line panned out . Undoubtedly,one of the best books of Janette Oke.Wish there's a sequel to this.

[Barb Nifong · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books by this author. This one has so many good biblical lessons, that it is a exceptionally good one. A lot of characters, but also nicely developed plot.

[Michele The Bookish Tea Room · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was very invested in this story. A frontier widow is doing everything she can possibly do to provide for her young daughter. She is so strong-willed and her pride doesn’t allow her to accept help from others. So she decides to take over her late husband’s freight running business. This is unheard of for women in her time. There are even a couple young men who truly admire her and would like to marry her. But she refuses. She can take care of herself and her daughter. This is such a heartbreaking story!! I got a little annoyed at how stubborn Sarah was, and then when her daughter Rebecca got older she was so mean to her mother! But overall, I really enjoyed this book and found myself just so drawn in and I never wanted to stop reading.

[Joyfully Jules · Rating 3 out of 5]

"He loves us. He loved us so much that He was willing to send His only Son to die, but He wants our love in return. How can we show our love? By obedience. But we can't follow His commands if we don't know what they are. We find them by studying His Word. He tells us there how He wants us to live. The most important thing that we, any of us, can do in life is to discover what Jesus wants us to be, and let Him help us to become that."

It was a decent book, but it dragged on a bit. I can't help but think Sarah could have done something else other than hauling freight. Rebecca was annoying, but it was nice to see her change at the end. :)

[Beatrise Sacdalan · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I thought it'd be a really boring book but as I went deeper into it, I got more and more interested in how the story will go. It starts off with Sarah, her husband had just died, and as the story progresses, she finds a way to make a living for her newborn baby Rebecca. Sarah goes through a ton of hardships just to be able to give Rebecca a good life. Sarah made a hard decision to send Rebecca away to boarding school. Sarah longs for her daughter to have a good life and be educated, as much as she wants Rebecca to be by her side, she wanted her daughter to live a good life, but in the end Rebecca and Sarah had developed a distant relationship.

[Ashley Schaller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know why it took me so long to read this! I've been a huge fan of Janette Oke for years now, and I have read many of her books, including almost all of her Women of the West series among others. For some reason, I never made it to this one and I corrected that mistake recently. Sarah was forced to make hard choices and while I may have been tempted to make other ones, I found myself rooting for her every step of the way. I loved the faith content as well. Janette Oke always has such a way of weaving it in naturally and leaving the reader encouraged.

[Ann Peachman Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Sarah’s husband does, she feels alone in her frontier town, wondering how she can support herself and her baby girl. She decides to do the unthinkable, and take over her husband’s freight hauling business. The work is physically taxing and she struggles to survive. She sends her little girl to a girls school to learn the womanly skills she had to give up, but what will happen when her daughter grows up and comes home?

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when I was a teenager, and loved it then. I recently listened to the audiobook and had forgotten a lot! There is a different perspective reading it as an adult with children of my own. Sarah worked so hard to provide for her daughter in this wonderfully wrotten story. What really struck my this time around was the thoughts of Sarah not wanting to wear men's clothing, and Rebecca's thoughts and attitude after coming back home.

[Karla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who sends a 6 year old daughter away to a school 1000 miles away, then doesn't see her until she graduates? And the school does nothing to prepare her for the kind of life she is to live? Makes no sense.

It was also frustrating to watch the main character work so hard for said schooling.

Boyd, Alex, and Seth were lovely characters though.

[Allan67 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book that I read to Diana. We can't do much anymore after her stroke, so I read to her to spend time together. Diana has always loved to have someone to read to her - and I like to do just that.

An interesting story of a widowed mother who pretty well sacrifices her life to provide an education for her only daughter at a boarding school "back east". Once the education is complete, the educated, spoiled daughter returns home to find what her home life really would have been if not for her mother's sacrifices. We almost expected daughter's reaction. The ending was not a surprise as well since we knew that it would something as it did.