Anne with an E Review

For multiple generations of readers, Anne Shirley will always be one of their favorite literary leading ladies. The heroine of L.M. Montgomery‘s beloved novel Anne of Green Gables, Anne is a spirited young woman with a wild imagination and an open heart.

The Netflix reboot of the series, Anne with an E, ran for three reasons. Stepping into the hallowed shoes of the young Miss Shirley is Amybeth McNulty. Playing her adopted parents, Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert are Geraldine James and R.H. Thomson.

I only watched the first episode and I couldn’t help but smile. McNulty is the perfect young actress to play Anne. Her take on the character is everything we expect from Anne Shirley. James and Thomson as the unmarried, middle aged Cuthbert siblings are equally well cast. James is severe while Thomson is willing to give the newest member of their family a chance.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Anne with an E is available for streaming on Netflix.

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Marilla of Green Gables: A Novel Book Review

When readers meet Marilla Cuthbert in the initial chapters of Anne of Green Gables, she is middle-aged, stubborn and unyielding.

Sarah McCoy’s new book, Marilla of Green Gables: A Novel, takes the reader back in time. Decades earlier, Marilla Cuthbert is thirteen. Her life changes forever when her mother passes away. Now she must take her mother’s place as a farm wife.

The only way out of farm life is her aunt. Elizabeth “Izzy” Johnson never married and earns a living as a seamstress in St. Catharines. Izzy encourages her niece to expands her world. This expansion includes joining the local Ladies sewing circle and helping to raise money for an orphanage that is part of the Underground Railroad. Along the way, Marilla falls in love with John Blythe, the son of a neighboring family.

It seems that her future is set. But politics, history, and personal choices have a hand in changing that future.

I loved this book. I am also a huge Anne of Green Gables fan, which was the main reason I picked up this book in the first place. In telling the story of Marilla’s early days, Ms. McCoy is able to draw a complete picture of Anne Shirley‘s adopted mother.

Though this book is not strictly for the hardcore Anne of Green Gables fans, I would recommend that the reader goes into the book with at least some knowledge of the world that Lucy Maud Montgomery created.

My only criticism is that the beginning of the book is a little slow. But when it takes off, it really takes off.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Anne Of Green Gables Book Review

Anne Shirley is not the average heroine. She is an orphan with red hair, a big mouth and an even bigger imagination. Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert are a middle aged brother and sister duo who never married.  What they ask for is a boy to help them around the farm. What they get is Anne Shirley.

Anne is the heroine of L.M. Montgomery’s immortal novel, Anne of Green Gables.  While Matthew quickly warms up to Anne, his sister is not so sure that taking in this child is a good idea. It’s not easy for Marilla, a woman who has a crusty outer shell to raise a child, especially as impulsive and imaginative as Anne. But Anne will soon become the daughter that Marilla and Matthew did not have.

I am ashamed, as a bookworm, to say that I have not read any of the Anne Of Green Gables books until now. I did see the miniseries years ago. What I liked about this book is that Anne represents many young girls. She is dramatic, she is impulsive, she dislikes what she sees in the mirror and she sometimes does not think before speaking or acting. But she has a very big heart and when she loves, she loves completely.

I loved this book. Anne Of Green Gables is one of those books that many young girls should read, if they have not read it already.

I recommend it.