I’ve had this book on my shelf for a solid four years and have just now gotten around to reading it! I really enjoyed it, all but the mostly brief and overly-vivid frontier violence (the two pages of an emergency amputation without painkillers is the one that really got to me). The MC, Katherine, is loosely based on a real woman who went to the north to regain her health at her uncle’s home and ended up falling hard for the local Mountie. Only problem was how far into the frontier he actually belonged...at the literal edge of human settlement.

The descriptions of the life are quite excellent and vivid (except for the super gritty details of frontier violence, human and animal) and also each side character shines in vivid colors. Katherine remained my favorite throughout.

18+ for the violence and semi-frequent profanities and swears.

Thanks to netgalley for a free reading copy. A positive review was not required.

This was a beautiful, emotional book set at the beginning of the 20th century in the wilds of Canada. This is based on a true story about Katherine Flannigan a young girl who moves to the harsh Canadian wilderness to be with the love of her life Mounty Mike. I shed tears and she will stay with me for a long time.
Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this.

I read “Mrs. Mike” by Benedict and Nancy Freedman many years ago. It was first published in 1947, the year I was born. As a teenager, I read and re-read this book because it was such a beautiful love story.

It is the story of Mike Flannigan, Canadian Mounty, and Katherine Mary O’Fallon. Mary Katherine has been send to her uncle in Calgary, Alberta, Canada because of her health. She is introduced to the harshness of a Canadian winter straight away. Her introduction to Mike Flannigan was not an auspicious occasion, to say the least. Katherine Mary had a lot to learn in this harsh environment. She and Mike eventually became friends and fell in love. At sixteen years of age, Katherine Mary married Mike Flannigan and headed with him to Hudson’s Hope in the far north. What follows is a beautiful love story with all of the joys, trials, and heartache that are part of it.

I loved the book when I first read it, loved it the subsequent twenty times I read it, and now that it is in reprint, I love it more. The Freedman’s also wrote two sequels to “Mrs. Mike”, “The Search for Joyful” and “Kathy Little Bird”. I cannot wait to read them.

Canadian historical stories are ones I am always on the lookout for, they seem to be few and far between. But will some digging I have discovered some little gems out there. Mrs. Mike was first published in 1947, considered a classic and tells the story of Katherine Mary O'Fallon and her life with Sergeant Mike Flanagan in the Canadian wilderness. The year is 1907 when Katherine is only 16 years old and journeys to Calgary where she meets her future husband, a RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police).

There are many things that I really enjoyed about this book including a glimpse of the harsh reality of life in a desolate land where your closest neighbour could be days away. For Mary and Mike it's not always easy, there is heartache, loneliness along with plenty of struggles and even danger. Told from Mary‘s point of view she doesn’t hold back on what life is like, especially for someone so young, naive and unfamiliar with the climate, but her struggles are not just with the land but the natives and mother nature.

This was a relatively quick read and categorized as a love story (which isn’t a favourite genre of mine) but I really enjoyed this one and recommend.

True story that reads like a very interesting fiction book! This was such an interesting read about earlier days. It is the story of the challenges faced and joys that were found in being married to a Canadian Mounty. Loved it!

Having lived in Alaska as well as traveled on the Al-Can road which connects Alaska to the lower 48, I have a soft spot for stories about the wilds of the area. Mrs. Mike is one such historical fiction title.

Katherine Mary O’Fallon is a 16-year-old Irish gal sent from Boston to live with her uncle in Alberta, Canada with the hopes that the environment will help her heal from pleurisy. Life is quite different there compared to the city of Boston with its fine clothes and theaters. Soon after arriving, Katherine meets Sergeant Mike Flannigan of the Canadian Mounted Police. They are both smitten with each other and wed in time for her to join him at his new duty station of Hudson’s Hope.

While this title is a love story, it also showcases how hard of a life those living in western Canada experienced. You can see how much of a struggle it is and walk with Katherine as she contemplates whether the losses experienced will send her back to her mother in Boston for good.

If you adore historical fiction, definitely give this book a read. Those who like a bit of romance will adore this one and find it to be free of smut.

When I read this (via a copy from NetGalley to review), I didn't realize it was originally published in 1947. I now know that there are subsequent titles in the Mrs. Mike series and can't wait to read them.

This is a little gem!

I thought when it started that it would be a twee romantic story of a young city girl who goes to Canada, meets her handsome Mountie and lives happily ever after . As I really am not a fan of romantic fiction this would not have been a good outcome for me. However, this book starts off with young Kathy being sent to an uncle in Canada for cleaner air as she has been ill and yes she does fall in love with a Mountie and marry him - but from then on the story dramatically improves.

Kathy is young, naive, inexperienced and in a hostile land. She is faced with living thousands of miles from civilisation surrounded by mountains, wolves, native Americans and snow - lots of snow. She shows her innocence in the early stages by making blunders, assuming certain stereotypes of the people around her only to realise when natural disasters, childbirth, crime and disease hit that she must depend on those very people for her survival. And they in turn must rely on her and her husband - as there is no one else. Oh and then she must survive the winters - did I mention the snow?!

This is quite gritty in places and moves away from its romantic beginnings into a developed and intricate story. The writing flows simply and is not sentimental or soppy. The setting is very well done and is as much a 'character' in the story as the people.
Unexpectedly good!

thank you for the chance to read this from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the copy!

16 year old Bostonian Katherine Mary O'Fallon is sent to Calgary Canada to live with her uncle to help her recover from pleurisy. During her first year (few months) there she meets, falls in love with and marry Sgt. Mike Flannigan of the Northwest Mounted Police.

Despite this book being written in 1947, I found it to be extremely interesting and relevant. I definitely will read it again and recommend it highly!

What an unusual book!

This first-person narrative of the pioneer life is fascinating in its detail whilst being moving in its strength of character and love, The adventure is always taut and occasionally harrowing. The friendships are real and sustaining.

I will be recommending it to all my adult friends.

I received this eBook from Net Galley to read and review, giving only my honest opinion of the book in my own words. That is what I have written below.
I moved to Alaska when I was 17. Very close to the same age as our girl in the book moves to Canada. (PS We both had red hair!) We both met an outdoorsman who was a bit older, was from the area, knew everyone, and how to do all the winter stuff... (Yes, even the dog sled, a team of sled dogs, we went ice fishing, moose hunting...you name it....)
So in a lot of ways I can verify the authenticity in the writing.
Even down to the horrid way the native people were treated for years! Out of sheer fear and ignorance on our part! They were often treated like slaves or worse, like they had no brains, feelings, or abilities.
But they do. I know some very brilliant Alaskan Natives and I'm sure the same is true for Canadian Natives also. Whether they are Aleut, Athabaskan, Inupiat, Kenitzie, Tlingit, Yupik or any another, they love big, laugh big, feel big, think & learn just like every one else.
I know...Soap Box! I understand fully that this book is written (very well and accurately!) about a specific time & place in that time. I just felt that with current, first hand knowledge on the subject it would be wrong NOT to correct something from then that is so seldom and so little written about.

I loved this book and will be looking for the second one!

This story, apparently based on the reminiscences of Katherine Mary O'Fallon Flannigan, gives a fascinating insight into life in the remote north of Canada in the early twentieth century. It is full of interesting details on the hardships of domestic life in such an apparently inhospitable area as well giving us glimpses of the brutal but beautiful natural world. It is quite sobering to reflect on the fact that a sixteen-year-old girl could make such a life-changing decision by accepting a marriage proposal, when she really had no idea of what she was letting herself in for. The harsh decisions that faced people living in those conditions are clearly and vividly portrayed. This is the first of three books, and I would like to read the others and follow the story of the family further into the twentieth century.

She's sixteen and suffering from pleurisy so she's sent to live with her Uncle in Canada. Her family thinks the cold dry air there will help her lungs. No one expected her to fall in love...

BooksGoSocial and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It has been published and you can buy a copy now.

This is a fictionalized true story about life in Canada in the early days. The man she loves is a mountie, so they go where they are posted.

This is a tale of a land that hasn't been tamed yet, Indians that suffered from diseases the white man brought and the interactions of natives with the white folk. While she couldn't speak their language, they communicated well enough. She learned if you fed one of the children, the whole family would come for tea. And not just for one day either.

There's a lot of loss in this story. Children had trouble surviving, the war took some more, and you were never sure if your spouse was going to make it back to you. Her husband had some supplies he could use to help those sick and injured but if disease came, it was never enough. Those who came after it ran out and were not happy. Many died.

But there are also tales of survivors. Mike and Kathy lost their children to the disease. But they took in two young ones whose parents had died. And they got one more child to raise when a young Indian woman died during childbirth. Life is hard, but you get by if you just keep on keeping on.

This is very realistic with sad and happy moments. If you want to learn about northern Canada, this will introduce you to the weather, animals, and more. When her children died, Kathy thought about moving back home to Boston but she found she not only loved Mike, she loved the wild country, too. I'm glad I live in this day and age.

I’m not sure how I got through 50+ years of being a book lover without reading Mrs. Mike - written in 1947, I’ve been aware of it for many years, but somehow never had read it. I’m glad I finally got around to it - I very much enjoyed this sweet, sad, charming and inspirational love story. It’s a dual love story that centers around building a marriage, but is also about learning to love a harsh and unforgiving wilderness. In 2017 it’s difficult to imagine being a girl of 16, marrying a man you barely know and settling in an unfamiliar country that’s so different from all you’ve known and so far from all your family. But in 1907, this wasn’t nearly so foreign a concept, and it’s just what happens when Katherine Mary O’Fallon from Boston meets and marries Sergeant Mike Flannigan of the Canadian Mounties. Together they build a life in a harsh and unforgiving land. It has beauty and tragedy and humor and most of all, underneath it all, love. I loved it, and highly recommend it.
Copy provided by Netgalley and Berkley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Before entering this review, let me note that you cannot read or evaluate Mrs. Mike outside the context of its publication date. If you are offended by prevailing attitudes in the early 1900's (the time of the story) or the 1940's (when the book was written), you may be put off by this book. For me, reading a reissue was a trip back to my childhood when I first read this.

The book is as sweet as it ever was, as sad as it ever was, and is still a romanticized adventure that transports you to the age of frontiers. In Mrs. Mike, Irish immigrant Katherine Mary moves out to Alberta for its cold dry air to help treat her weak lungs. In doing so, she meets and marries Sergeant Mike Flannigan and moves with him to his post. What follows is the heartbreaking and uplifting and human story of love and loss.

My 2017 eyes may note more of the heroine's problematic age (16), romance (extremely short), societal attitudes, and narrative fictionalization. Despite that, I'm still entranced the the story of a young girl who moves out to Alberta, falls in love with a Mountie, and heads out to the country.

As heroes go, Katherine Mary is high strung and flawed. From fires to childbirth, you can tell when the authors dipped into the well of the real life narrative, this book is based on. At the same time, they built a story that was literary and worthy. The beautiful little writing touches transfigure a basic memoir into a more substantive telling. There are lovely lines interspersed throughout the narrative and a deep respect for the characters' moral backbone.

Mrs. Mike remains a beautiful classic. Thanks to Netgalley for giving me this opportunity to revisit it. Make sure you have a box of tissues nearby while reading.

I was so excited to see this book has been released again. I read this in the mid 60's and fell in love with this story. A very realistic fictional account of 16 year old Katherine who lives with her uncle in Canada and meets and falls in love with Mike, a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman. The love story has wonderful highs and tearful lows. There are now two additional books with future generations. This is a perfect introduction to romance and historic fiction for young girls who are ready to move up to novels.

Mrs. Mike is such a timeless classic! Read it in high school, and loved it then. I was almost afraid to read it again. I shouldn't have been! It was every bit as good 40 years later! Maybe even better, after being married and raising children of my own. It's based on a true story, and has such a feeling of real ness, you will yourself transported trough time, to the far Nort territories. The struggles of a 16 yr old girl moving far from home, meeting her future husband, and the the hardships she goes through raising her children are just heart wrenching!
But there is so much "happy" stories, too, that you don't feel depressed reading it, but fulfilled.

Mrs. Mike is a timeless romance as the book tells about the courtship, marriage and life of Katherine Mary O’Fallon and Sergeant Mike Flannigan. Their story is one that can be read and enjoyed by all readers as there is no profanity, no nude scenes, and is a clean wholesome story.

Be prepared to read a book that will be long remembered.

Highly recommend.

Review written after downloading a galley from Net Galley.