Book Review

Janette Oke has been one of my favorite authors since I was eleven years old. Aside from those series of books we all read when we’re that age, her books lined up on my shelf were the start of my personal library. Over the last twenty-five years, I have read many different “Christian romance” authors – I still haven’t found one that can compare.

But, I will add, I don’t much care for the movies Hallmark produced that have been “based on” her books. As we all know “based on” is a loose phrase and I think “borrowed from” might be a better term – as in “borrowed the names of the characters and that’s about it”. For those who have never read her books, the movies might be fine. For those who have, I would say it’s safe to say that the movies are dismal.

So, I was not too thrilled to discover Mrs. Oke’s latest books are called by some “movie companions” to the newest Hallmark “based on” failure. (Which, I confess, I have not seen…but I loved Elizabeth Thatcher and especially the reliable, strong Wynn Delaney in the original “Canadian West” book series. “Based on” doesn’t cut it.) Mrs. Oke is a brilliant writer…had she succumbed to merely “movie companions” to guide her original works?

It took more than a little while to figure out the movies (and so the newest “Return to the Canadian West” trilogy of books) is not actually about Elizabeth Thatcher and Wynn Delaney (who appears no where) but Elizabeth’s niece Elizabeth, also called Beth. (As I said, “borrowed the names of the characters and that’s about it, totally confusing the matter”.) This is not made clear and for a long time I had little (to no) interest in reading a re-adaptation of a series I loved. But Janette Oke is Janette Oke…

Where Hope Prevails is the third and final installment of the “Return to the Canadian West” trilogy. And it proves to be Janette Oke at her finest. The characters are real, they have struggles, they triumph and they fail. The story of the second Beth Thatcher follows her through her engagement to Canadian Mountie Jarrick Thornton, but it is mostly a story of young woman’s struggles to love as God calls her to love, to be humble, to teach the children she loves and to learn to be the woman God has called her to be. While some people might think the characters are odd or even weak in their continued focus on God’s ways and what He would have them to be, isn’t that supposed to be how we strive as we live a Christian life? Mrs. Oke never lets that go, and that is why she shines.

So, if you are an old fan of Janette Oke, you will have to put aside your prejudices that the original Elizabeth Thatcher and Wynn Delaney cannot be improved upon and allow yourself to read yet another good story from a beloved author. You will not be disappointed.

This book was provided to me by Bethany House Publishers for review purposes only. To purchase: http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/where-hope-prevails/379060