Where Courage Calls
A When Calls the Heart Novel
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Her courage and her heart will be tested in ways she never expected...
Beth Thatcher has spent her entire life in the safe, comfortable world of her family, her friends, and the social outings her father's wealth provides. But Beth is about to leave it all behind to accept a teaching position in the rugged foothills of western Canada. Inspired by her aunt Elizabeth, who went west to teach school several years ago, and gently encouraged by her father, Beth resolves to put her trust in God and bravely face any challenge that comes her way.
But the conditions in Coal Valley are even worse than she'd feared. A recent mining accident has left the town grieving and at the mercy of the mining company. The children have had very little prior education, and many of the locals don't even speak English. There isn't even a proper schoolhouse. In addition, Beth's heart is torn between two young men--both Mounties, one a lifelong friend and the other a kind, quiet man who comes to her aid more than once.
Despite the many challenges, Beth is determined to make a difference in the rustic frontier town. But when her sister visits from the East, reminding her of all the luxuries she's had to give up, will Beth decide to return to her privileged life as soon as the school year is over?
A special companion story to Hallmark Channel's When Calls the Heart TV series
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The mother of the Christian fiction genre returns in this tepid prairie romance cowritten with her daughter. Beth Thatcher comes from a wealthy family, but has chosen to take a yearlong teaching position in a small mining town in western Canada. She is slowly accepted by the people of Coal Valley, and makes two key friends: her landlady, Molly McFarland, and disabled miner Frank Russo. Romantic tension is one undercurrent; two young Mounties are interested in Beth. A note of menace is present too, in the form of an illegal moonshiner. None of this is organic; Beth is too good to hold much interest, and pathos moves the plot (a child is hospitalized, Beth plays the violin movingly at a Christmas pageant). Characters are stereotypes: Molly has a maternal, strongly Christian heart; Frank is all nobility, and a gifted amateur violinist to boot. The prose can be shopworn ("His sneer as he spoke made Beth's skin crawl"). Those who want extra-clean clean reads will enjoy this; readers expecting better craft will be disappointed.
