Plum Creek Bride
German immigrant Erika Scharf arrives in Plum Creek to be a mother's helper for the Callender's baby but upon her arrival she learns that the mother has died. Doctor Jonathan Callender allows Erika to stay and she immediately realizes that he has no interest in his infant daughter. At first Jonathan has more on his mind than Erika, like cleaning up the town's polluted water system. Erika does a few minor things that capture Jonathan's attention, but it is more irksome to him especially when she begins to play his deceased wife's harp. Town gossip is the main reason Jonathan marries Erika but one night when he loses a young patient to cholera, Jonathan goes home and tells her he does not want to be alone.  Their life as husband and wife truly begins that night but later, when Erika comes down with the deadly cholera, how many more nights will they have?  Jonathan does all he can to save her life, but is it enough? Erika is an endearing character but Jonathan is not as clearly drawn.  I questioned whether he truly loved Tess, his first wife.  I sensed that he did and that it was his deep grief that caused him to resent her for having a baby and dying. Erika angered him when she ruined Tess's garden and played her harp yet later on it seemed that he resented Tess for caring more about her possessions.   Did he conclude that Tess was shallow?  In addition, when it comes to Erika he seems to resent her for having other interests besides him.  It is not until the end of the book that Jonathan redeems himself, but by then it was a little too late. Gloria Miller  --Copyright © 1999 Literary Times, Inc.  All rights reserved--FromLiterary Times