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Women of the West #5
They Called Her Mrs. Doc
As the daughter of a successful Montreal physician, Cassandra Dell Winston is used to city life, so when she falls in love with a conscientious young doctor who intends to practice in his hometown on the frontier, she can only hope that life out west will prove to be temporary
222 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1992
179 people are currently reading
1413 people want to read
About the author
Janette Oke
347 books3,442 followersJanette 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 153 reviews
May 23, 2021
This book is the fifth book in Janette Oke's Women of the West Series. This one so far has been my favorite. This book is different than the first four books of the series in that it is a story about the life of Cassandra Smith. At the beginning of the story an elderly lady sits out on her porch taking a much needed break with a cup of hot tea. Her family has been wanting her to move from the small town where she has lived for so many years and move closer to them in the city. She doesn't want to move away from this small town because this has been her home for most of her life, as the wife of the town's only Doctor. As she sits there drinking tea her memories take her back to her youth and readers get to go through the years of her life from the time she was seventeen. So this was a time split novel and a lot of years were covered in this story. I found the story to be a mixture of emotions. As the elderly Cassandra Smith was preparing to sell her home and move she had been a widow for some years. She was lonely and missed her husband but she loves the town and the children who come to Mrs Doc to have their knees and cuts and bruises taken care of. Clearly she doesn't want to leave the town she loves. But then we go back in time and get to meet her late husband as a young man and then to follow along with this couple and get to know them. Parts of this story was happy and parts of it tore my heart out and I wanted to cry along side of Cassandra. I was totally drawn into this story. I loved it and if I've done anything right this year it was to read this Women of the West series and this story in particular. This has been a beautiful story and I feel I'm a better person for having had the privilege to read it.
Readers of Historical Romance and family fiction will enjoy this book. It's part of a series but can be read as a stand alone novel. Characters from other books in the series do not cross over to later books in the series.
I borrowed a copy of They Called Her Mrs Doc from the Hoopla Library. A review was not requested. All opinions expressed here are my own.
Readers of Historical Romance and family fiction will enjoy this book. It's part of a series but can be read as a stand alone novel. Characters from other books in the series do not cross over to later books in the series.
I borrowed a copy of They Called Her Mrs Doc from the Hoopla Library. A review was not requested. All opinions expressed here are my own.
August 23, 2017
I really wasn't planning to like this books very much...and I didn't. Only because I looooved it!!! :) I read this book with a friend which was super amazing. ;)
The story of a rich young woman from the city marrying her sweetheart and moving west was absolutely delightful. All through the book Samuel and Cassandra were just the sweetest couple ever. <3 While this was a book that makes you smile and feel good, it's also a story that will bring tears to your eyes and tug at your heart.
I hadn't read any of Janette Oke's books until last autumn, but they're quickly becoming favorites and I hope to read many more soon. :)
(On a side note, my copy is much pretty than the Goodreads cover. ;) )
The story of a rich young woman from the city marrying her sweetheart and moving west was absolutely delightful. All through the book Samuel and Cassandra were just the sweetest couple ever. <3 While this was a book that makes you smile and feel good, it's also a story that will bring tears to your eyes and tug at your heart.
I hadn't read any of Janette Oke's books until last autumn, but they're quickly becoming favorites and I hope to read many more soon. :)
(On a side note, my copy is much pretty than the Goodreads cover. ;) )
August 5, 2018
I wasn't sure I would like this story. I had only read one book by Janette Oke and wasn't that impressed. But I picked it up at the library because it takes place in Canada.
Right from the first page I found myself drawn into the story, enjoying the slow pace, the relaxing nature–even when events in the story were not relaxing–and the lovely characters. The story was an easy read, and the Christianity was woven in delightfully including the difference between knowing about God, and knowing God.
I'm glad I read it.
Right from the first page I found myself drawn into the story, enjoying the slow pace, the relaxing nature–even when events in the story were not relaxing–and the lovely characters. The story was an easy read, and the Christianity was woven in delightfully including the difference between knowing about God, and knowing God.
I'm glad I read it.
January 13, 2023
I really have enjoyed most of the Women of the West series by Janette Oke and this book was no exception.
The storyline was sweet and I liked the MC overall.
The storyline was sweet and I liked the MC overall.
January 19, 2017
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.
This book started slow with a worn story line: Wealthy doctor's daughter, wealthy doctor's daughter meets boy, wealthy doctor's daughter marries boy, wealthy doctor's daughter and new husband move west... I felt like the story dragged thru their lives, country doctor and young wife, raising children, children growing up, children marry and move away. Then the story began to get personal. The doctor husband died unexpectantly one day and the story turned to his wife coping with his death and with loneness. The book, is a story of life, if you generalize it, there is wisdom in these pages. We were going to rate this book three stars, but the last few chapters changed our mind. It's a four and a half, rounded to five for the ending.
This book started slow with a worn story line: Wealthy doctor's daughter, wealthy doctor's daughter meets boy, wealthy doctor's daughter marries boy, wealthy doctor's daughter and new husband move west... I felt like the story dragged thru their lives, country doctor and young wife, raising children, children growing up, children marry and move away. Then the story began to get personal. The doctor husband died unexpectantly one day and the story turned to his wife coping with his death and with loneness. The book, is a story of life, if you generalize it, there is wisdom in these pages. We were going to rate this book three stars, but the last few chapters changed our mind. It's a four and a half, rounded to five for the ending.
June 6, 2024
I have loved all of Janette Okes books, but when I started this one I wasn't sure I would like it. I didn't like spoiled little Cassandra, but I grew to love her as she grew in her life and changed. I enjoyed watching her change and grow and mature as a wife and mother and Christian. It made my heart happy.
October 7, 2016
Sweet story of a full and complete life. The story begins with an old woman contemplating the move from the home her husband built for her that her children are insisting on. Then we swoop back to the dinner when she met her husband, and she barely noticed him. And the book proceeds to tell the story of her life. There is conflict, but it isn't huge, because it is resolved before it reaches that point. There is struggle but no great tragedy-- no children die, life is fairly straightforward. But it's a good story and an interesting read. I consider it a lot like my parents' life or that of many of the people I know. A good life without a lot of drama. I enjoyed it.
July 21, 2024
A good life story, like a biography/autobiography, but fiction. I feel that there must have been many stories like this in the time period. Love Cassandra's growth from spoiled rich girl to respected small-town doctor's wife. One star withheld simply because I find books that cover an entire person's life a little low on detail, and a little sad because it gallops through time and families grow up and they get old so quickly! :( But very sweet, clean, and a pleasant read.
September 28, 2007
Pretty bare. There weren't very many details after the beginning, more like an annals entry. There wasn't much focus on any of the interesting points of the book: going west, having five children, learning how to effectively be a doctor. I'll take
Mrs. Mike
any day.
October 29, 2016
So in the beginning it was a little bit hard for me to love this book! I actually didn't like the main character very much at first! But I ended up really liking this book! You actually get the see the characters whole life play out, which is cool, but way too sad! Overall I still loved it though, and got to the point that I couldn't put the book down! :)
February 10, 2010
This book is great. It sometimes makes you want to cry if you have weak tearducts like me but in all truths its not really that sad. Its just telling a story about an old lady remembering her past. Just remember if you have weak tearducts have a box of tissues.
March 8, 2010
Would give it 2.5. I found it very predicable.
March 9, 2015
Absolutely love this book. Hit some beautiful heart strings with me, A down to earth book for mommas and the heart to follow after her husband--wherever that may lead you in life!
January 20, 2023
I think this is one of my favorites by Janette Oke :')
February 8, 2018
great if you love Christian fiction....the worst thing was the author didn't start the god stuff til half way through so I was actually enjoying the book until then lol
June 29, 2025
Sweet story about a young woman leaving her life in the city to follow her husband’s dream of being a doctor in the west.
October 22, 2011
*Potential Spoilers*
I don't know that I would call this a "romance" so much as historical Christian fiction, but there was a romantic element to the story. As with the majority of her books, if you are looking for anything beyond light kissing, this will not be for you.
The story is set in eastern Canada in the latter part of the 1800s, and this fact alone was a bit of a pet peeve for me because you don't find that out until halfway into the book. Not that the time period itself was the problem, but Mrs. Oke wrote the story just vague enough that you weren't able to have a frame of reference. The heroine is a young, somewhat spoiled, naive girl of 17 who longs for the day she will be courted but hasn't actually given much thought as to what she'll do when she actually is. She lives a life of privilege, being the daughter of a well known doctor, having servants and pretty much living a life of leisure other than school. When she does eventually meet her beau and husband-to-be, she has her first taste of the real world when her mother makes her learn to cook and sew. To say she's not at all happy about this is an understatement! Why, surely she'll have servants and cooks to do "menial labor" for her, just as her family has always had! Now imagine her surprise when her husband informs her they are moving to the "untamed wild west" of western Canada where he is from and plans on practicing medicine. ;-)
The story really starts at this point, on their arrival in western Canada. It's rough, without privilege and your survival depends on no one but yourself. We see "Red" as her husband lovingly calls her, adapt to making a home for them, cooking, cleaning and eventually becoming a mother. We also see her forming a lifelong friendship with Virginia, a young mother who moves into town around the same time they do, who teaches her the invaluable lesson that knowing ABOUT God and knowing God PERSONALLY are two different things.
The story is told almost exclusively from the heroines point of view as we watch her become a mother, grow older and learn valuable life lessons but especially that "things" are just fleeting in this life, that what is really important is your family and your relationship with God. The story is slow in parts and skips over huge sections of her life. At times it reads more like a memoir than a fictional story. What I did like was reading about a young, spoiled girl who blossoms into a wife and mother I could respect. Her marriage is loving and devoted, despite their early hardships and when, towards the end, Mr. Doc passes away unexpectedly, I grieved right along with her. The ending of the story brought tears to my eyes.
Overall, I liked the story. It was easy to pick up and put down when life got too busy to read but still interesting enough to keep reading when I was able to sit down and relax. If you're a fan of Janette Oke, this is on the tame side, even for her. If you're not a fan, I'd most likely advise you to pass on this one.
B-/3 stars
I don't know that I would call this a "romance" so much as historical Christian fiction, but there was a romantic element to the story. As with the majority of her books, if you are looking for anything beyond light kissing, this will not be for you.
The story is set in eastern Canada in the latter part of the 1800s, and this fact alone was a bit of a pet peeve for me because you don't find that out until halfway into the book. Not that the time period itself was the problem, but Mrs. Oke wrote the story just vague enough that you weren't able to have a frame of reference. The heroine is a young, somewhat spoiled, naive girl of 17 who longs for the day she will be courted but hasn't actually given much thought as to what she'll do when she actually is. She lives a life of privilege, being the daughter of a well known doctor, having servants and pretty much living a life of leisure other than school. When she does eventually meet her beau and husband-to-be, she has her first taste of the real world when her mother makes her learn to cook and sew. To say she's not at all happy about this is an understatement! Why, surely she'll have servants and cooks to do "menial labor" for her, just as her family has always had! Now imagine her surprise when her husband informs her they are moving to the "untamed wild west" of western Canada where he is from and plans on practicing medicine. ;-)
The story really starts at this point, on their arrival in western Canada. It's rough, without privilege and your survival depends on no one but yourself. We see "Red" as her husband lovingly calls her, adapt to making a home for them, cooking, cleaning and eventually becoming a mother. We also see her forming a lifelong friendship with Virginia, a young mother who moves into town around the same time they do, who teaches her the invaluable lesson that knowing ABOUT God and knowing God PERSONALLY are two different things.
The story is told almost exclusively from the heroines point of view as we watch her become a mother, grow older and learn valuable life lessons but especially that "things" are just fleeting in this life, that what is really important is your family and your relationship with God. The story is slow in parts and skips over huge sections of her life. At times it reads more like a memoir than a fictional story. What I did like was reading about a young, spoiled girl who blossoms into a wife and mother I could respect. Her marriage is loving and devoted, despite their early hardships and when, towards the end, Mr. Doc passes away unexpectedly, I grieved right along with her. The ending of the story brought tears to my eyes.
Overall, I liked the story. It was easy to pick up and put down when life got too busy to read but still interesting enough to keep reading when I was able to sit down and relax. If you're a fan of Janette Oke, this is on the tame side, even for her. If you're not a fan, I'd most likely advise you to pass on this one.
B-/3 stars
July 12, 2021
As the daughter of a prominent physician in Montreal, Cassandra's never had to imagine living any other way than the privileged life she's accustomed to in the East. But when she falls in love with a young doctor who plans to set up his practice out on the Western frontier, Cassie hopes he'll eventually change his mind in They Called Her Mrs. Doc by author Janette Oke.
This is at least the third time I've read this novel over the decades, one of the books in the Women of the West series I discovered in my adolescence. Even though my tastes in Christian Fiction, and in reading overall, have changed over the years, there's a reason I return to these "oldies" every so often.
Sure, this novel shares some of the issues present in other early works by this author. Underdeveloped portions of the story, a good deal of halting speech from the characters with far too many dashes, and an overuse of tears/crying.
For maybe half of the book or so, there isn't much reason to like or root for Cassie, and the "Mrs. Doc" aspect of the plot doesn't kick in until relatively late in the read. There also isn't much "Doc" himself through a long stretch of the story. He's mostly in the background as the years pass from the early stages of Cassandra's marriage until the later years in the book.
Even so, these novels are "comfort reading" for me when I want easily digestible ChristFic in a historical setting. And the last chapters of this novel touched me in a new way this time around through the simple depiction of how life, with its changes and trials and joys, goes on.
I'm looking forward to rereading more from this imperfect but enduring series that's still one of my all-time favorites.
This is at least the third time I've read this novel over the decades, one of the books in the Women of the West series I discovered in my adolescence. Even though my tastes in Christian Fiction, and in reading overall, have changed over the years, there's a reason I return to these "oldies" every so often.
Sure, this novel shares some of the issues present in other early works by this author. Underdeveloped portions of the story, a good deal of halting speech from the characters with far too many dashes, and an overuse of tears/crying.
For maybe half of the book or so, there isn't much reason to like or root for Cassie, and the "Mrs. Doc" aspect of the plot doesn't kick in until relatively late in the read. There also isn't much "Doc" himself through a long stretch of the story. He's mostly in the background as the years pass from the early stages of Cassandra's marriage until the later years in the book.
Even so, these novels are "comfort reading" for me when I want easily digestible ChristFic in a historical setting. And the last chapters of this novel touched me in a new way this time around through the simple depiction of how life, with its changes and trials and joys, goes on.
I'm looking forward to rereading more from this imperfect but enduring series that's still one of my all-time favorites.
October 24, 2012
"They Called Her Mrs. Doc" is a Christian historical set in the Canadian West during the pioneer time period. It's a part of the Women of the West series, but the books aren't connected to each other so you can read them in any order. These novels are quick reads.
The setting and historical detail created a nice yet still somewhat vague (as to exact time period) backdrop for the events. The story followed Cassandra's life from seventeen-years-old until she's very old, so we get more of an overview of her life than a good look at her during one period of her life. Her early struggle was to adjust to living in an "uncivilized" town where she didn't know anyone or fit in. Then she had to learn to sometimes help her husband and the townspeople (when her husband wasn't available) medically despite the fact she gets nauseous at the sight of blood.
The Christian element was woven in as a natural part of the story, and it wasn't a big part of the story. Cassandra realizes that she knows about God but doesn't know God on a personal basis, so she decides to change that and then let Him change her attitude about her circumstances.
Married sex was implied (as babies were born). There was a very minor amount of "he cussed" style of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable novel.
The setting and historical detail created a nice yet still somewhat vague (as to exact time period) backdrop for the events. The story followed Cassandra's life from seventeen-years-old until she's very old, so we get more of an overview of her life than a good look at her during one period of her life. Her early struggle was to adjust to living in an "uncivilized" town where she didn't know anyone or fit in. Then she had to learn to sometimes help her husband and the townspeople (when her husband wasn't available) medically despite the fact she gets nauseous at the sight of blood.
The Christian element was woven in as a natural part of the story, and it wasn't a big part of the story. Cassandra realizes that she knows about God but doesn't know God on a personal basis, so she decides to change that and then let Him change her attitude about her circumstances.
Married sex was implied (as babies were born). There was a very minor amount of "he cussed" style of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable novel.
February 22, 2022
Funny how each of the Oke books I have picked lately have been entirely on a whim... but each of them have contained a message I really needed. This one is no different so far.
The writing style was a little bland, as where the characters, but I still enjoyed it.
The Characters:
Cassie and Abigail's relationship reminds me in the slightest bit like Mabel and Sarah Jane, but Cassie and Abigail are both have a little of Mable and Sarah Jane. Love Cassie's mother. Her brothers really aren't mentioned though...which I would have enjoyed seeing. Most of the characters felt a little underdeveloped, but it did not bother me that much.
Although the book is almost more of memoir, and often skips over several years in just a few paragraphs, it was very interesting and encouraging.
Content: Cassie marries a doctor, so there is a few mentions of injuries, blood, etc. None of them are detailed that I remember. Mentions of childbirth. Mentions of a child running away (he is found very quickly, and didn't realize he had run away), mentions of death.
The writing style was a little bland, as where the characters, but I still enjoyed it.
The Characters:
Cassie and Abigail's relationship reminds me in the slightest bit like Mabel and Sarah Jane, but Cassie and Abigail are both have a little of Mable and Sarah Jane. Love Cassie's mother. Her brothers really aren't mentioned though...which I would have enjoyed seeing. Most of the characters felt a little underdeveloped, but it did not bother me that much.
Although the book is almost more of memoir, and often skips over several years in just a few paragraphs, it was very interesting and encouraging.
Content: Cassie marries a doctor, so there is a few mentions of injuries, blood, etc. None of them are detailed that I remember. Mentions of childbirth. Mentions of a child running away (he is found very quickly, and didn't realize he had run away), mentions of death.
June 15, 2018
This is one of Janette Oke's Christian historical romance novel. As usual, the novel is well written with great character development, and as is often also the case with her novels or series, the novel doesn't just conclude with a wedding but instead travels with the protagonist, Cassandra, through her years of marriage and motherhood as well. I enjoyed Cassandra's learning to rely on God as she struggles to adjust herself to living in the "uncivilized" west (Alberta, Canada) in the early years of her marriage, and by the end of the novel when we see her as an older woman, a grandmother and great grandmother, she hates the idea of leaving her home and her village.
January 27, 2009
Love this book by Janette Oke! It is now my favorite book that she has wrote! It helped me with several of the spirit challenges that I have been struggling with lately! For those of you who love Janette Oke this is a fabulous book and I guarantee you that you will love it! And for those of who have never read a book from her this is a fabulous first book to start reading from her!
May 8, 2018
The book was so page turning. Although, it was hard for me to really realize when Cassandra was so old, and it all happened so fast. This book is great for teenage girls.
August 8, 2021
Read as a teenager, and then again in college! My Mom has passed these down to me, and I am so thankful!
June 6, 2024
This is one of my most favorite novels by Janette Oke! Love this sweet story so much!!
June 9, 2020
Going from a somewhat privileged upbringing to the wilds of the west was not something that Cassie ever imagined happening. When you love someone you will do almost anything. Especially when you think that after a short time they will change their minds and go back home.
I read this story along time ago when it first came out. It was a nice refreshing read.
I read this story along time ago when it first came out. It was a nice refreshing read.
December 7, 2023
oh my goodness, my heart. new favorite book by her.
July 8, 2025
One of the better endings she's written.
January 26, 2011
This book was at best excellent and at worst ok. It is one of the books in the Woman of the West series by Janette Oke.
We are introduced to the main character Cassandra, who is better known as Cassie while she is younger. The first chapter actually is of her when she is much older, contemplating a move to the city that her children are insisting on. She however, wants to stay at the home she's lived in most of her life.
After that it takes us to a seventeen year old Cassie who is just starting to think about men for the first time. She is surrounded by young doctors to be thanks to her father who is a doctor and professor to prospective doctors. While initially her interests lay with an older man, she soon find a soul mate in the charming Samuel Smith. The agree to marry, but then she finds out that his biggest desire is to move back West to bring medicine to his hometown where there are no doctors. Cassie, a spoiled Eastern girl, loves him enough to go with him, but secretly wishes that he'll change his mind and move back East.
The rest of the book follows their life together and that of their children. While the first part of the book follows a very slow timeline, with the birth of their first child, the book starts jumping all over the place with occasional longer chapters having some sort of story involving the family to them. These stories include visits to the East, the children's professional choices and marriage, and different medical procedures done by Samuel and sometimes Cassandra.
As far as a struggle in the novel, the only hardship the book seems to have is Cassandra's struggle with staying in the West. But even that hardship is gone midway through the book. Otherwise, in this novel, there really is no plotline, its just the story of a woman.
Oke's characters in this are also very believable. Cassandra starts out as being very headstrong and biased. Over the novel she grows and even learns to accept others for who they are. She also even overcomes her aversion to blood and most things medical, becoming known as Mrs Doc for her skills in healing small childhood mishaps and injuries of the children's pets.
Like most of Oke's novels, the writing is very soft and unoffensive. She gives a lot of detail and paints a picture on what life was like in her different time periods. Although no time frame was given for this novel, it is easy to see it starts in the early 1900's and continues from there.
Since Oke is a Christian writer I will relate a little bit of how that is expressed in this book. For the most part she shows the Christian attitude through the growth of the character Cassandra. It shows how she deals with her struggles and thoughts. I wouldn't call the book preachy at all, there is only one section where Oke goes into detail about how to include God into your life during a discussion between Cassandra and a friend. Some might wonder if any non-Christians would enjoy Okes book. I can personally attest to the fact that they will. Myself I find that even a non-Christian is able to appreciate how the characters in Oke's novel accept that they cannot change the world around them, but can strive to be better people themselves. It offers realistic ways of making yourself a better person, regardless if you include the religion or not.
Not only that, but the stories in general are wonderful for any audience. They offer calm, peaceful relaxation in reading. My only complaint for Mrs. Doc would be the jumping around in time. I would have liked to see the book flow a bit better and include more information at each time frame in the book. Or jump a set number of years instead of one here, five there, two there.
They Called Her Mrs. Doc
Copyright 1992
222 pages
We are introduced to the main character Cassandra, who is better known as Cassie while she is younger. The first chapter actually is of her when she is much older, contemplating a move to the city that her children are insisting on. She however, wants to stay at the home she's lived in most of her life.
After that it takes us to a seventeen year old Cassie who is just starting to think about men for the first time. She is surrounded by young doctors to be thanks to her father who is a doctor and professor to prospective doctors. While initially her interests lay with an older man, she soon find a soul mate in the charming Samuel Smith. The agree to marry, but then she finds out that his biggest desire is to move back West to bring medicine to his hometown where there are no doctors. Cassie, a spoiled Eastern girl, loves him enough to go with him, but secretly wishes that he'll change his mind and move back East.
The rest of the book follows their life together and that of their children. While the first part of the book follows a very slow timeline, with the birth of their first child, the book starts jumping all over the place with occasional longer chapters having some sort of story involving the family to them. These stories include visits to the East, the children's professional choices and marriage, and different medical procedures done by Samuel and sometimes Cassandra.
As far as a struggle in the novel, the only hardship the book seems to have is Cassandra's struggle with staying in the West. But even that hardship is gone midway through the book. Otherwise, in this novel, there really is no plotline, its just the story of a woman.
Oke's characters in this are also very believable. Cassandra starts out as being very headstrong and biased. Over the novel she grows and even learns to accept others for who they are. She also even overcomes her aversion to blood and most things medical, becoming known as Mrs Doc for her skills in healing small childhood mishaps and injuries of the children's pets.
Like most of Oke's novels, the writing is very soft and unoffensive. She gives a lot of detail and paints a picture on what life was like in her different time periods. Although no time frame was given for this novel, it is easy to see it starts in the early 1900's and continues from there.
Since Oke is a Christian writer I will relate a little bit of how that is expressed in this book. For the most part she shows the Christian attitude through the growth of the character Cassandra. It shows how she deals with her struggles and thoughts. I wouldn't call the book preachy at all, there is only one section where Oke goes into detail about how to include God into your life during a discussion between Cassandra and a friend. Some might wonder if any non-Christians would enjoy Okes book. I can personally attest to the fact that they will. Myself I find that even a non-Christian is able to appreciate how the characters in Oke's novel accept that they cannot change the world around them, but can strive to be better people themselves. It offers realistic ways of making yourself a better person, regardless if you include the religion or not.
Not only that, but the stories in general are wonderful for any audience. They offer calm, peaceful relaxation in reading. My only complaint for Mrs. Doc would be the jumping around in time. I would have liked to see the book flow a bit better and include more information at each time frame in the book. Or jump a set number of years instead of one here, five there, two there.
They Called Her Mrs. Doc
Copyright 1992
222 pages
April 1, 2013
This one was a little dull and too preachy and seemed to be missing a lot of the details that give a story heart. This book follows one woman's life story from her teenage years through her old age as she transformed from a spoiled rich girl to the wife of a frontier doctor.
I found Cassandra to be rather annoying as a married woman who wouldn't tell her oblivious husband how she was feeling and wouldn't decide to make the best of the adventure of learning to live without servants and modern conveniences. I also found it strange that absolutely nobody, especially her mother, ever tried to prepare her for what she was getting into by moving West. Her mother even started a conversation once, asking if she really wanted to marry the young doctor and move out to the frontier. But then she let the conversation drop as soon as Cassandra said she loved him and would follow him as a submissive wife should. What mother wouldn't discuss the details of what it would be like and what she would be giving up and what she would need to do to survive? The parents came off as very ambivalent towards their daughters' future.
There was also a lot of buildup about the hardships she would face or was facing but I thought there should have been more actual hardship. Not having operas or plays is not true hardship. The rain ruining your hat is not a hardship. Wouldn't a young, frontier doctor have struggled with paying his bills during the years he was first starting his practice? Where were the droughts or severe winters and bad illnesses? Where were the nefarious characters? What I liked about so many of the Women of the West books was the description of the financial difficulties and all the hard work the women had to do just to scrape a living and keep food on the table and deal with dangerous men. The only hard work in this book seemed to be child-rearing and housekeeping until she started to help her husband with his medical duties and the book didn't give very many details of that.
This story had every opportunity to include adventure, conflict, and humor but instead was just boring and preachy and disappointing.
I found Cassandra to be rather annoying as a married woman who wouldn't tell her oblivious husband how she was feeling and wouldn't decide to make the best of the adventure of learning to live without servants and modern conveniences. I also found it strange that absolutely nobody, especially her mother, ever tried to prepare her for what she was getting into by moving West. Her mother even started a conversation once, asking if she really wanted to marry the young doctor and move out to the frontier. But then she let the conversation drop as soon as Cassandra said she loved him and would follow him as a submissive wife should. What mother wouldn't discuss the details of what it would be like and what she would be giving up and what she would need to do to survive? The parents came off as very ambivalent towards their daughters' future.
There was also a lot of buildup about the hardships she would face or was facing but I thought there should have been more actual hardship. Not having operas or plays is not true hardship. The rain ruining your hat is not a hardship. Wouldn't a young, frontier doctor have struggled with paying his bills during the years he was first starting his practice? Where were the droughts or severe winters and bad illnesses? Where were the nefarious characters? What I liked about so many of the Women of the West books was the description of the financial difficulties and all the hard work the women had to do just to scrape a living and keep food on the table and deal with dangerous men. The only hard work in this book seemed to be child-rearing and housekeeping until she started to help her husband with his medical duties and the book didn't give very many details of that.
This story had every opportunity to include adventure, conflict, and humor but instead was just boring and preachy and disappointing.
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