Book Review: Love's Enduring Promise by Janette Oke

 

The Davis family returns in Love's Enduring Promise by Janette Oke. Clark and Marty Davis take care of their growing family while the town they live in says goodbye to some folks, welcomes new ones, and experiences a fair amount of growth too. 

Love's Enduring Promise is the second book in the Love Comes Softly series. Oke brings readers through a story that involves a lot of changes for the Davis family and the town in which they live. Clark and Marty welcome three more biological children into their family (Arnie, Luke, and Elvira), and adopt Nandry and Clae Larson when their father decides to move farther west after his wife dies. 

Meanwhile, the town builds a new school and a church, so they welcome a teacher and a parson to their community. As the town continues to expand, young couples get married, new people move to town, babies are born, the Davis and Larson children grow and change, and Missie has her first caller. 

As one reads Love's Enduring Promise, they can't help but notice how different the pacing is for this novel as compared to the first book in the series.

While a lot happened in Love Comes Softly, it focused on a short period of time (fall to spring) as Clark and Marty's relationship developed. While the reader met the Grahams and Wanda Marshall, the majority of the plot revolved around Clark and Marty. Now, part of that might be because they were more isolated in a new town, but it unfolded slowly.

In Love's Enduring Promise, the novel focuses on the Davis family and people in the town; the Larsons, the Grahams, the Marshalls, the LaHayes, and the McDonalds (owners of the local store), over a series of years. It also is a novel where the reader witnesses a tremendous amount of growth in the town. In addition to the new school and church, the town has their own doctor, a sheriff's office, and a bank. 

While I enjoyed Love's Enduring Promise, I can't say it was a favorite. Way too much happened and so much time passes that I felt like the Davis children in this novel were added just to show pioneers often had an abundance of children. What was wonderful to see, however, was the Davis family prosper and become such an integral part of the town. 

In this novel, like the first book in the series, the reader should be warned that the pioneers' opinions of Indians and how they talk about them could be deemed offensive. 

Love's Enduring Promise is told mostly from Marty's point of view, giving the reader a further glimpse into Marty Davis' life as a pioneering wife and mother in a growing community. This family saga has been popular for decades. If you enjoy family sagas, historical romances, or faith-based fiction, this could be a good choice. 

• ASIN: ‎ B01F9FUX7U
• Publisher: ‎ Bethany House Publishers; Reissue edition (2003-11-01) (January 1, 2003)
• Language: ‎ English
• Paperback: ‎ 240 pages
• ISBN: 9780764228490

This novel is from my personal collection. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Books to Film: Love's Enduring Promise (2004)

 

The Davis family saga continues in Love's Enduring Promise, the sequel to Love Comes Softly. 

Missie Davis (now played by January Jones) is the local school teacher. She finds herself wooed by a wealthy surveyor, Grant Thomas, (portrayed by Mackenzie Astin), but when her father Clark (Dale Midkiff) suffers a life-threatening accident, the help of a mysterious stranger has her second guessing her true feelings. 

Airing on Hallmark Channel in 2004, Love's Enduring Promise shifts the story arc to Missie's character, which viewers will see continued in the next two films. Having viewed all of these movies up through Love Takes Wing, I feel this is the weakest film of the series. Perhaps that is to be expected after the moving performances of Katherine Heigl and Dale Midkiff as two people drawn together by necessity whose arrangement blossoms into love. These actors had such chemistry together that the focus shifting away from them means the actors portraying the love story in the sequel had to have equal or better chemistry, which wasn't visible to me. 

By now, Missie's family includes Marty's son Aaron Luke Davis (K'Sun Ray) and her brother Arnie Davis (Logan Arens). As she developed into a young woman, some of that spunk viewers enjoyed in Love Comes Softly has been tempered, which is to be expected. We do however see a bit of it when Nate (Logan Bartholomew) is plowing the field as Clark recovers. 

Missie is quickly taken with Grant Thomas, a wealthy surveyor who pursues her. Yet, she can't seem to get the mysterious Nate out of her mind. Nate comes with his own backstory, which unfolds along the way, and Clark is a compassionate father figure to Nate. 

My favorite parts of this movie are, no surprise, ones that involve Marty and Clark. In the opening sequence, we see Marty and Clark relaxing in a field together. Marty asks Clark to promise that he will never leave her, which he does. She asks him how he can be certain, and he quotes Scripture stating the two shall become one. She also comments on what a wonderful life he has given her and what a wonderful life they have made together, so the viewers feel they have been successful in their endeavors and enjoy their life together. This foreshadows his life-threatening accident. 

My next favorite part comes at the end of the movie. 

SPOILERS AHEAD IN WHITE 

At the end of the movie, Missie is saying goodbye to her family, as she heads farther West with her new husband. Marty, holding back tears, provides motherly advice and reminds her to write once they are settled. But it is Missie and Clark's goodbye that tugs at the heartstrings. Clark tells her that ever since she was a little baby, he knew this day was coming because she had an independent spirit. 

She says, "Pa, my heart's breaking."

"Mine, too," Clark replies.

"Can you fix it?"

"Not this time, little one." They embrace. "Not this time."

Marty and the boys walk up to Clark to offer him support. As Missie and her husband pull away in their wagon, Clark waves and says, "Remember His Promise." 

Missie waves and replies, "No tears."

"No tears," Clark says. Then the camera focuses on his stricken face as he whispers, "No tears." 

Then the last shot is a faraway look of the wagon driving away. 

Clark's strong faith is a part of who he is. Viewers see that in Love Comes Softly, and they see it in Loves' Enduring Promise. That faith has helped him and his family through the years, and will be something they will lean on in the future. 

Michael Landon Jr. definitely inherited his father's ability to provide family friendly content that tugs at every heartstring. He has a knack for taking source material and adapting it to a new medium. I look forward to sharing more of this series with you.

• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ Unrated (Not Rated) 
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 2.72 Ounces
• Director ‏ : ‎ Jr, Michael Landon
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC, Full Screen
• Release date ‏ : ‎ May 13, 2008
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Heigl, Katherine, Midkiff, Dale, Bartholomew, Logan
• Studio ‏ : ‎ 20th Century Fox
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00192YKE0

I own this movie on DVD. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.