Book Review: Love Takes Wing by Janette Oke

 

Belinda Davis struggles to find her way in the world in the seventh book in the Love Comes Softly series, Love Takes Wing. 

As Belinda's nursing career evolves, she finds many she's grown up with are getting married and settling into their new lives. But for her, it's just one monotonous day after the other in her small prairie town. Until the unexpected happens: a passenger on the train has fallen ill and needs immediate medical assistance. 

Belinda and her brother, Doctor Luke, care for the woman in the office at his house. When it is deemed Mrs. Stafford-Smythe will require long-term care, Belinda becomes her full-time nurse. Meanwhile, two former classmates return to town and renew their acquaintance with her.

While her day-to-day life keeps her busy, Belinda remains restless, so when Mrs. Stafford-Smythe asks her to join her on her return trip to Boston while she continues her recovery, Belinda jumps at the chance. She struggles to settle into this new life and is surprised when she finds herself equally as restless and lonely despite the exciting life she now lives. Can she discover what is missing to heal her troubled heart?

Loves Takes Wing is Belinda's coming of age story. The youngest of Marty and Clark's children, she watches while her peers and cousins of the same age marry and have children. But she remains unsettled, despite loving her nursing career. Then her life takes an unexpected turn with the introduction of Mrs. Stafford-Smythe. 

Oke did a fine job with this novel. She sprinkled in romance, but that wasn't the focus. The author created a character ahead of her time; a young woman who decides to be true to herself and discover what she wants out of life versus settling for what others might want for her. Belinda goes on a journey of self-discovery, which takes her from her small town to Boston and then traveling through Europe. Meanwhile, the Davis clan experiences a rift, which affects everyone. Oke wraps up most of the story by book's end, but Belinda's adventures will continue into the next and final book in the Love Comes Softly series, Love Finds A Home.

New adventures, faith, family, forgiveness, and a hint of romance await you in Love Takes Wing. 

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bethany House Publishers; Repack edition (February 1, 2004)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0764228544
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0764228544
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I own a copy of this book. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way. 

Books to Film: Love Takes Wing (2009)

 

Love Takes Wing, the seventh book in Janette Oke's Love Comes Softly series, was turned into a television movie in 2009. Like the book of the same title, this storyline focuses on the character of Belinda, who viewers met in the movie, Love's Unending Legacy. However, the timelines between the book and the movie simply don't match up. 

In the book, Belinda is the daughter of Marty and Clark Davis, who trains to be a nurse and ends up heading to Boston with Mrs. Stafford-Smythe to care for her. In the movie series, Belinda, the adopted daughter of Missie and Zach Tyler, meets Mrs. Stafford-Smythe in Anderson Corner and cares for her until she is well enough to return to Boston (Love's Unfolding Dream).

Fans of the book series may have issues with the total liberty that the writers of Love Takes Wing and Love Finds A Home (the eighth in the series) take with the source material, but since timeline and storyline changes happened before, this is bound to present challenges. 

After Drew's death, Dr. Belinda Simpson (now played by Sarah Jones) travels with her friend from medical school, Annie, played by Haylie Duff, to Sikeston, Missouri, to care for the townsfolk when they take sick with a mysterious illness. Ray Russell (Lou Diamond Phillips) blames the orphans and their caretaker, Hattie Clarence (Cloris Leachman), and insists they be run out of town. However, the town's mayor (Patrick Duffy) encourages the Town Council to give Belinda time to cure them. And with the help of Lillian (Annalise Basso), one of the orphans, she just might have a chance.

Lee Owens (Jordan Bridges), the town's blacksmith, is smitten with Belinda from the start. But still hurting from the loss of Drew, and with time running out before the town loses faith in her abilities, he must patiently bide his time. Helping Belinda in whatever way he can, he must have faith that Belinda will one day come around. 

The team that wrote and produced Love Takes Wing used what had been successful in prior movies--faith, family, adoption, death of a spouse--to bring Belinda's story to life. Belinda and Annie arrive in Sikeston, a primitive town, where Belinda has been hired to take over the clinic. Facing the expected discrimination, especially from men, as a female doctor, she finds it hard to find her path. Separated from her family, Belinda corresponds with her mother, Missie Tyler (Erin Cottrell), who appears a few times as she reads letters from and writes letters to her daughter. Viewers saw this in Love's Long Journey, as Clark wrote to his daughter Missie across the miles. 

There are so many things Love Takes Wing and its actors portray well, but here are some of my favorites:

• Belinda's loss of faith and the anguish she feels after not being able to save her own husband
• The fear of the unknown disease threatening the entire town, which leads to irrational behavior
• The developing relationship between Lee and Belinda and Lillian and Belinda
• The point where Belinda realizes she needs God's help

What I truly missed is the rest of the Davis family. That's to be expected as a series moves along. In the book series, fans get a chance to see the Davis family again, but the last time movie fans get to see the family is at the end of Love's Unfolding Dream. Despite that, I felt this was a strong addition to the Love Comes Softly movie series, and Lou Diamond Phillips, who directed this film, kept the right feel to it so this movie was consistent with what viewers had come to expect. 

• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ Unrated (Not Rated)
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.56 x 5.32 x 7.58 inches; 2.56 Ounces
• Item model number ‏ : ‎ 2258089
• Director ‏ : ‎ Lou Diamond Phillips
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC, Subtitled, Dolby, Color, AC-3, Widescreen, Multiple Formats
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 28 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ May 5, 2009
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Patrick Duffy, Cloris Leachman, Lou Diamond Phillips, Jordan Bridges, Haylie Duff
• Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English, Spanish
• Language ‏ : ‎ English (Dolby Surround), French (Dolby Surround), Spanish (Dolby Surround), Unqualified (DTS ES 6.1)
• Studio ‏ : ‎ 20th Century Fox

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B001TOPYY8
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I own this DVD. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.