I'll say from the start that I've never really read Janet Oke's books. I actually attempted one about 15 years or so ago, and found it so dreadfully boring that I couldn't carry on. (I don't mind wholesome! I was an avid reader of the "Anne" series from childhood into my thirties.)
Anyway, after watching "Love Begins" just last night, I was eager to see Wes Browne (Clark) and Julie Mond (Ellen) in what I thought would be a continuation. Of course, it wasn't - or maybe it was, because the young sister Cassie had been replaced by a daughter named Missy. Perhaps 10+ years had gone by and Cassie was grown and gone. There was no explanation.
At the start, their well has run dry, they have no crop, and the bank is ready to take their house and land because Clark took out a loan he can't pay back. Clark is bringing barrels of water (by horse cart,) from the local stream every day. HUGE stress already, and a bit of a bummer for the viewer.
SO, before the movie is even half over, Ellen dies of scarlet fever! The daughter, instead of being the truly helpful and cheerful character that sister Cassie was, is a contrary brat who repeatedly refuses to do as she's told and winds up setting the house on fire as a result. Then, near the end of the movie, she hears something that upsets her and runs away, scaring her already traumatized father half to death.
In the end, Clark finds his daughter in the dry, dark, hilly fields after a long search, he has finally found water on his land, and ta-da! - all is well. NOT. Wife just died and daughter is still a brat. (I know I sound so hardhearted! I was just very disappointed by all this - and I'm sorry to say the young actress who played Missy was off-putting to me.) Maybe Oke fans will enjoy this movie a lot more than I did.
Anyway, after watching "Love Begins" just last night, I was eager to see Wes Browne (Clark) and Julie Mond (Ellen) in what I thought would be a continuation. Of course, it wasn't - or maybe it was, because the young sister Cassie had been replaced by a daughter named Missy. Perhaps 10+ years had gone by and Cassie was grown and gone. There was no explanation.
At the start, their well has run dry, they have no crop, and the bank is ready to take their house and land because Clark took out a loan he can't pay back. Clark is bringing barrels of water (by horse cart,) from the local stream every day. HUGE stress already, and a bit of a bummer for the viewer.
SO, before the movie is even half over, Ellen dies of scarlet fever! The daughter, instead of being the truly helpful and cheerful character that sister Cassie was, is a contrary brat who repeatedly refuses to do as she's told and winds up setting the house on fire as a result. Then, near the end of the movie, she hears something that upsets her and runs away, scaring her already traumatized father half to death.
In the end, Clark finds his daughter in the dry, dark, hilly fields after a long search, he has finally found water on his land, and ta-da! - all is well. NOT. Wife just died and daughter is still a brat. (I know I sound so hardhearted! I was just very disappointed by all this - and I'm sorry to say the young actress who played Missy was off-putting to me.) Maybe Oke fans will enjoy this movie a lot more than I did.