Hi everyone, this third week of April I thought you would enjoy an historical read of sorts. If you guessed that the Green Gables part of it had caught my interest, then you are absolutely correct. Why not settle down with a warm drink to truly dig into this review…
Title: Marilla of Green Gables
Author: Sarah McCoy
Genre: Fiction – Historical
Publication details: William Morrow; NY, 2018
ISBN: 9780062697738 (Hardcover)
What this book is about: Plucky and ambitious, Marilla Cuthbert is barely in her teenage years when her world is turned upside down. Leaving her to bear the responsibilities of a farm wife: cooking, sewing, keeping house, and overseeing the daily life of Green Gables with her brother, Matthew, and father, Hugh. In Avonlea, life holds few options for farm girls. Marilla’s one connection to the wider world is Aunt Elizabeth “Izzy” Johnson, her mother’s sister, who fled Avonlea for the bustling city of St. Catherines. Aunt Izzy is a talented seamstress, which has allowed her to build a thriving business and make her own way in the world. Emboldened by her aunt, Marilla dares to venture beyond the safety of Green Gables. With her friend Rachel, she joins the local Ladies’ Aid Society in helping an orphanage run by the Sisters of Charity in nearby Nova Scotia – a home for abandoned children that secretly serves as a way station for runaway slaves from America. Her budding romance with John Blythe, the charming son of a neighbor, offers her a possibility of future happiness. Instead she is caught up in the dangerous world of politics and ambition – jeopardizing all she cherishes. Now Marilla must face a reckoning between her dreams of making a difference in the wider world and the small-town reality of life at Green Gables.
My review: Oh how my heart ached after reading this!! I was transported in time to the 1860’s and all the way across the oceans to those iconic Green Gables in Prince Edward Island. There I met the thirteen-year-old Marilla and Rachel!! And the adventures these two get up to!! I love how McCoy had researched the lifestyle and language of that era to bring young Marilla’s story to us. We would never know if this was indeed how L.M. Montgomery envisaged Marilla’s younger years but McCoy had me captivated and made me believe it could have been. From daily life in the farm to the gorgeous setting that is Avonlea, the descriptions and imagery is superbly written. I truly loved it all!! And what a fitting love story to the quote “…you could say he was my beau…” that had piqued a little interest in Anne and all of her fans!!
My rating: 5 ⭐
Miss Mahee's Library of Reads 