Friday, January 11, 2013

Book Review: Love Comes Softly (1979)

Love Comes Softly. Janette Oke. 1979. 240 pages.

The morning sun shone brightly on the canvas of the covered wagon, promising an unseasonably warm day for mid-October. Marty fought for wakefulness, coming out of a troubled and fitful sleep. Why did she feel so heavy and ill at ease--she who usually woke with enthusiasm and readiness for each new day's adventure? Then it all came flooding back, and she fell in a heap on the quilt from which she had just emerged. Sobs shook her body, and she pressed the covering to her face to muffle the sound.

Love Comes Softly is one of my comfort reads; it has been for decades. It is about a marriage of convenience or necessity. Clark, the hero, is a widower with a two-year-old daughter, Missy. Mary, the heroine, is a pregnant widow who is forced to bury her first husband and marry her second on the same day. (The preacher only comes around about two or at most three times a year.) She's young; she's grieving; she has no experience in the home. But Clark--who's grief is only a few months older than Marty's own--is patient, kind, understanding. He has a way of knowing when to speak, when to act, and when to be silent and appear not to notice whatever would bring her pain or embarrassment. But even though Clark is such a dear, pioneering life can be exhausting. AS she is preparing for the birth of her first child, the Lord is preparing her heart to love again...

I absolutely love and adore Love Comes Softly. There are plenty of memorable scenes in this one. I love the chapters leading up to Christmas. The chapter on Christmas day itself--and how they choose to celebrate it despite initial disappointments is sweet. There's also a great Easter chapter. There's so much to love about this one. It can be sweet and romantic (especially towards the end), but it can be funny as well, like when Marty makes her first batch of biscuits!

Do you have a favorite scene from Love Comes Softly?
“The truth of God's love is not that He allows bad things to happen, it's his promise that he will be there with us--when they do.”   
“Sometimes love isn't fireworks, sometimes love just comes softly.”

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

2 comments:

Amy @ Hope Is the Word said...

This was a favorite of mine as an old teen/young adult. Thanks for the walk down memory lane!

tel4him said...

Love Comes Softly is probably my favorite book, besides the Bible. Of course, picking a favorite book to me is like picking a favorite child! LOL My favorite scene is the very end at the hotel. I won't say because I don't want to add any spoilers, but if you've read the book, you know what I mean. Such a wonderful story! I've read it probably 10 times in my lifetime!