What do You think about When Hope Springs New (2005)?
I have enjoyed revisiting the first four books in the Canadian West series. These four books star Elizabeth and Wynn. One thing I've been doing is imagining Elizabeth and Wynn on an episode of House Hunters. I've been thinking about what Elizabeth's wishlist for a house would look like before and after. What would it have been like before marriage, before traveling with her husband to Beaver Creek and serving several years, and, what it would have looked like AFTER they left Beaver Creek. I have an idea that Elizabeth would NOT have had "open concept" on her wishlist. She'd have wanted ROOMS, for ROOMS meant privacy and a greater sense of home. I think her wishlist would have included FLOORS however. In this last novel, she's in a one-room structure with dirt floors. There is not an outhouse. There isn't even a community outhouse--which would have taken getting used to. She simply learns that there are paths from the village leading to the woods. Certain paths for women and children. Certain paths for men. (In Beaver Creek, Elizabeth had it good. Wynn hired men to build her a private outhouse in their yard within the first week or two of moving!) World War I is taking place, and here Elizabeth and Wynn are living in a one room house, dirt floors, stove with two burners, two whole shelves, two chairs and a table, a bed in the corner, and nail pegs in the wall for hanging stuff. And this has to serve as their home and his office. If there has been one thing I've not loved from this series, something that may date the series a bit, is its treatment of "Indians." The language is not politically correct or not politically correct enough. Readers are reminded again and again how primitive and savage and uncivilized and superstitious these Indians are. Mostly in the fourth book where readers learn that "these Indians" aren't like the other Indians from Beaver Creek that have lived among white people and become civilized and somewhat respectable. Wynn and Elizabeth are facing more of a "first contact" type of experience. Elizabeth never forgets that she's the first white woman and what a special opportunity this is. Great emphasis is placed on these strange chants and dances. Anyway, in this fourth novel, Elizabeth and Wynn travel to their new assignment. Life is hard; really hard. Elizabeth finds it absolutely impossible to make friends. She tries every single day. She keeps approaching the Indian women and speaking to them in the language she learned at Beaver Creek. She even seems to stalk paths where she hears children laughing and playing. She walks with picture books and holds up the bright and colorful pictures, turning the pages, hoping to wow children into approaching her instead of running away. But Elizabeth is at her best, perhaps, in this one. When a fire threatens the entire village while the men are away, Elizabeth takes command and saves the day...I like the series as a whole. But the first book is probably the best.
—Becky
Once again, this books hits a personal note. Although, I think it is one many of us can relate to. The feeling like you finally belong in a community. You've made friends, found your way around the area, started mastering the culture and then you move again. This time it is harder to break down those barriers. This is a theme I write about in the Woodmere Trilogy ( ).In When Hope Springs New, the turning point occurs when natural disaster forces acceptance. When I was in high school, our town was threatened with the largest flood it has ever seen. My sister and I were sandbagging for days, my dad was helping the national guard being as he is a retired Captain in the Army, and my mom was helping all our elderly neighbors. The sand bag levee didn't hold. My sister and I ran home with the river flowing fast down the street behind us. Nobody was at home and it we forgot to sand bag our house. I called my parents to tell them. The next thing I knew, neighbors and the nation guard were coming to help save our house.There are many other examples of how much this book, while written to be set in the early 1900s, easily applies to modern life. I don't want to give spoilers. Read it to discover yourself in Oke's excellent writing.
—Sarah Richards
I thought this was the best book of the series so far. Elizabeth and Wynn are now stationed in a remote village where the Native American women and children do not trust or welcome them. Elizabeth struggles to make a home for herself and Wynn in a tiny cabin that also serves as the office. Most of their belongings remain packed on a wagon covered with a canvas tarp outside their home. It is a far cry from their last posting where they left many friends and a comfortable three room cabin. Elizabeth continues to rely on her faith in God as she struggles for acceptance from the women. Her prayers are answered in a very unexpected way which makes for interesting reading.
—Lynda
