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Eastern socialite Cassandra Dell Winston was willing to travel to the ends of the earth to be with her husband, Dr. Samuel Smith. But it was still a shock when Sam took her west to a rustic frontier town–the place where They Called Her Mrs. Doc.

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 story just touched my heart in a very special way. There were so many blessed lessons to learn from this young woman, who goes from living a pretty care free life, to marrying and moving West, where things weren't so easy. Watching her grow and learn what it really means to "know Him" was special, and near the end the tears were flowing. Life isn't always easy, and marriage can at times even be a bit lonely, but when we look to Christ, He will change our outlook and give us much more than we could imagine. ( )

A very moving story! I like that it is not just a "fall in love, the end" book, but it followed her through her whole life.

(As a side note, it does portray a somewhat common and unfortunately attitude early on in the story of some women in marriage. That they can get a man to change his mind on something he has already told her what he thinks about it. Whether it is about a large or small issue, it is a huge waste of time...unless God chooses to help.) ( )