When Calls the Heart. What comes to mind when you hear
that title? A book series you grew up with? Or maybe a TV show you’re
constantly tweeting about? {#SEASON THREE, WHOOP!} Or even something
you’ve heard about from friends, but never really checked out. Maybe you have checked it out, and then panicked
with all the info that popped up.
I’m giving two
points to the people who say they know about this series from this blog.
Whaaaat? ;)
{{Click
on any of these picture to enlarge it. Click the Text underneath to see my
review.}}
I’m here today to help with all that info! But first,
a bit of history. :)
Pretty neat, huh? Let’s get started on the books!
First off, you have two different book series: “Canadian West” (Janette Oke) and “Return to Canadian West” (Janette Oke
and Laurel Oke Logan). The first series started in 1983 and finished three
years later with a total of four books…much to the dismay of the fans. Janette
Oke eventually wrote two more books in 1990 and 2001 following Elizabeth’s (and
her husband’s) children (the children, now grown, are the main characters, not
their parents.) {Look at me giving no spoilers! ;D }. “Return to Canadian West” came out when the TV show started; the
books in this series are a special companion story to the show on Hallmark.
But I’m
getting ahead of myself.
Here’s the thing though: It’s not to be confused with
the movie or TV series of the same name! The book (this book) is told in Elizabeth Thatcher’s POV. The first
Elizabeth Thatcher. In the movie, “When Calls the Heart”, you follow Auntie
Elizabeth’s journey as her niece Elizabeth (or Beth) reads her journal. (Niece
Elizabeth, who I’ll be referring to as Beth, is the main character in the
second book series and TV series). Confusing? It’s okay, you’ll get it. :)
Elizabeth
Thatcher, the first. ;)
Elizabeth/Beth
Thatcher.
What do I mean by Aunt/Cousin and Niece/Cousin? Just
this: In “Where Courage Calls”, Beth
Thatcher says about her “Auntie Elizabeth”: “She
[Beth] remembered again how very fascinating it was that she would now be following
in Auntie’s footsteps, traveling to the West to teach. And even though Beth had
later come to discover that her namesake
Elizabeth was not truly an aunt—being the older daughter of Father’s eldest
brother Ephraim and thus an older cousin
whom Mother insisted be addressed respectfully—Beth and her sisters chose to
continue the term of endearment.” ~ page 35, “Where Courage Calls” by Janette Oke & Laurel Oke Logan.
As for the rest of the books in the first series:
So, I’ve talked about the Books & Movie, now it’s
time to talk about the TV Show. (Comparing the TV Show to the Books & Movie
are very different, but I’ll get into that in a bit.) If I could go back and
live in any time period in History, it would be 1908 in New York City. Why? and
Why am I saying this? The Clothes!
Oh, the clothes! The Hats, the hair,
the shoes! *swoon* Needless to say, I
love Season One because of the breathtaking clothes that I *so* would wear.
Season One & Season Two are pretty different in the regard:
Season Two’s clothing seems a bit more Modern, but
still beautiful. :)
Now, let’s play a game of Red Light, Green Light. How
it works: I’ll type a part of the plot from the book, “Where Courage Calls” (the companion story to the TV Show) and will
compare it to the Movie & TV Show. Green
means ‘Yes, that’s in there’. Red means ‘No, not
in this one!’. Example:
~Edward is a possible love interest of Beth/Elizabeth…(Movie, TV Show)
Edward is in the movie, but not mentioned at all in the TV show {instead we
get good ol’ Chuck.}. Make sense? This is basically to understand that the
Book, Movie & TV Show have different details. :)
~Beth has two sisters, Margaret (married to John, with
a son) & Julie…(Movie= Sisters are Unsaid (but
able to assume it’s Margaret, married to John & has a son) and Julie,
TV Show=Elizabeth’s sisters are Viola (not married) and
Julie (TV Show Julie is nearly the same as Book Julie.)) {Just a note
that Margaret (Books) is much nicer than Viola (TV Show).}
~Beth lost a younger brother to Whooping Cough and had
it as well, it left her frail & sickly (Movie
nor the TV Show mention little William or Beth’s
ailments).
~The “Return to
Canadian West” series are set in the 1920s…(Movie=set
in 1910, TV Show=set in 1910-1911).
~Beth loves music & plays the violin…(Movie nor the TV Show mention
this fact or have Elizabeth/Beth play, which she does many times in the Return series.)
~Unlike both the Movie & TV Show, young Elizabeth
Thatcher is not held up on her way to Coal Valley in WCC. Her father’s compass at
the train station he gave her is stolen, but not robbed. (The Compass is in the
Movie, but not the TV
Show.)
~Jack (who Beth calls by his full name, Jarrick) has a
handlebar mustache! (Jack is not at all in the Movie,
and sadly Jack in the TV Show is clean
shaven…and goes by Jack to everyone.) {I’m laughing so hard at the picture of Daniel
Lissing with a handlebar mustache!}
I could go on with comparing the Books, Movie & TV
Show, but the gist of it is that the Movie is more like “Where Courage Calls” than to the TV Show of which it’s a special companion.
{The TV Show has been made more TV-y with a bit more drama & action. ;) }
I, personally, like the book “When Calls the Heart” better than the movie. (Well, I am a book
reviewer. ;) ) There’s some pretty big differences, but is overall nearly the
same. (Did that make any sense? ;) )
I watched the Movie, then the TV series and then read
the books. I think that not reading the books first had me enjoy the Movie
& TV show more, as I wasn’t comparing them to the books. :}
And as a fun bonus: here’s a couple pictures of
Janette Oke with some of the actors of the TV Show!
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| Photo credit Copyright 2014 Crown Media United States, LLC |
 |
| Photo credit Copyright 2014 Crown Media United States, LLC |
So, I hoped this helped! {And didn’t make you more
confused…} If you haven’t joined the WCTH group on Facebook, click Here to check it out!
Did I answer everything? I hope so! If you have a
question feel free to comment it below, and, if I know the answer, I’ll let you
know. :)
To new visitors of this site, please have a look
around and find some Christian books for girls ages 9-19 in your life! :)
See y’all on Monday with a new review! :)
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