Speak to me of Love (by Robin Lee Hatcher)

(Amazon UK link)

'Speak to me of Love' is the fourth Christian novel I've read by Robin Lee Hatcher. But while I found the others quite moving, I didn't really enjoy this one as much as the others.

As I understand it, it's a standard 'Heartquest' plot. An actress with two young children has to leave her travelling troupe to tend to her sick daughter. She is in a fairly dead-end town, and the only job she can find is that of housekeeper to a bad-tempered man. He is something of a caricature with a patch over his eye, a scar on his face, and an unhappy past.

Having said that, there are some nice touches in the book. There is a macho cow-girl who falls in love and needs help to start looking like a woman. The children are nicely portrayed too. But the plot is rather like that of 'Jane Eyre', and the Christian input seems a bit forced at times.

Still, 'Speak to me of love' is well-written and probably gives an accurate picture of the life in small-town America in the late 19th century. Unfortunately, I didn't find either of the main characters particularly memorable.

Nonetheless, it made a pleasant light read for about three hours, and was more believable than many of this genre.