Sunday School Review: The Doctor’s Lady by Jody Hedlund

The Doctor’s Lady by Jody Hedlund

Christian Historical Romance, Published Sept 2011

Challenges: Historical Fiction Challenge

Read: December 2011, 378 pp.

4/5

Book Blurb:

Priscilla White knows she’ll never be a wife or mother and feels God’s call to the mission field in India. Dr. Eli Ernest is back from Oregon Country only long enough to raise awareness of missions to the natives before heading out West once more. But then Priscilla and Eli both receive news from the mission board: No longer will they send unmarried men and women into the field.

Left scrambling for options, the two realize the other might be the answer to their needs. Priscilla and Eli agree to a partnership, a marriage in name only that will allow them to follow God’s leading into the mission field. But as they journey west, this decision will be tested by the hardships of the trip and by the unexpected turnings of their hearts.

Book Trailer:

Thoughts:

I really liked that Jody based this novel on real people – Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, which she talks a little bit about at the end of the book.  It is a fictionalized tale, but one that is heavily based on Narcissa’s personal journals. This story covers from the point when Eli comes to New York and visits Priscilla’s community church and their entire journey back across the continent to Oregon, to what would eventually become the Oregon Trail.  Priscilla (Narcissa) was the first white female to ever cross the continental divide – a feat that many thought was impossible to be achieved by any woman.  It seemed that at every turn their paid guides left them high and dry, but Eli was bound and determined to get Priscilla there in one piece.  Their traveling companions, Henry and Mabel Spalding (Henry and Eliza Spalding), made for interesting company, especially since Priscilla had once turned down Henry for her hand in marriage. 

It was a marriage of convenience and I understand that they were both annoyed with the fact that they were essentially “chained” to one another, but the one thing that annoyed me the most about this book was Eli’s persistence on being so rude and standoffish toward Priscilla.  When the story flips to his point-of-view, it is obvious how much he cares for his wife, but these feelings are trapped inside him for 97% of the book.  And even when she made advances toward him, he still refused her! That seems a bit hard to believe in my opinion, which is really the only reason why I ended up rating this book a 4 star instead of a 5 star.  I would have liked to see their relationship develop more over the length of the trip instead of the decision made at the very end.

It is obvious the amount of research Jody has done and I actually want to read Narcissa’s firsthand accounts of their journey.  Overall, I really enjoyed the story  of their overland journey and look forward to Jody Hedlund’s other book, The Preacher’s Bride, which is based on the story of Paul Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress and his wife Elizabeth.

See more from the author – interview with TheCreativePenn.com:

Thanks to Bethany House for providing me with an copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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