Name: Marilla de Green Gables
Rating: 4.142857142857143 (7 reviews)
ISBN: 9786555524796

Sarah McCoy

Um conto ousado e sincero da vida em Green Gables... antes da chegada de Anne. Um romance divertido e comovente, ambientado na zona rural da Ilha do Príncipe Edward no século XIX, que imagina a jovem Marilla Cuthbert e as escolhas que abrirão sua vida à possibilidade de desgosto ou de grandeza inimaginável. A escrita de McCoy é lírica, há uma história de fundo muito bem elaborada, que contribui para a nossa compreensão das histórias de Anne. É como se todos os pontos estivessem conectados de uma maneira excepcional. Para ler e reler, tamanha sensibilidade e riqueza de escrita.

Marilla de Green Gables

A bold, heartfelt tale of life at Green Gables . . . before Anne: A marvelously entertaining and moving historical novel, set in rural Prince Edward Island in the nineteenth century, that imagines the young life of spinster Marilla Cuthbert, and the choices that will open her life to the possibility of heartbreak—and unimaginable greatness. Plucky and ambitious, Marilla Cuthbert is thirteen years old when her world is turned upside down. Her beloved mother dies in childbirth, and Marilla suddenly must bear the responsibilities of a farm wife: cooking, sewing, keeping house, and overseeing the day-to-day life of Green Gables with her brother, Matthew and father, Hugh. In Avonlea—a small, tight-knit farming town on a remote island—life holds few options for farm girls. Her one connection to the wider world is Aunt Elizabeth "Izzy" Johnson, her mother’s sister, who managed to escape from Avonlea to the bustling city of St. Catharines. An opinionated spinster, Aunt Izzy’s talent as a seamstress 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 and discovers new friends and new opportunities. Joining the Ladies Aid Society, she raises funds for an orphanage run by the Sisters of Charity in nearby Nova Scotia 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—Marilla is in no rush to trade one farm life for another. She soon finds herself caught up in the dangerous work of politics, and abolition—jeopardizing all she cherishes, including her bond with her dearest John Blythe. 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.

A Novel

Marilla of Green Gables

Faith Collins

This was incredible and I never wanted it to end!!

Renee Blankenship

Thank you to William Morrow for my free copy. All opinions are my own. 

When I decided to start Marilla of Green Gables the weather had finally started to cool off a bit and I had pulled out a few sweaters. My son was in his third week of school, things felt a little more settled and I was finally looking forward to fall in a way I hadn't been able to yet with so much change happening at the end of summer/beginning of the school year. Sometimes that happens right? This cosmic fated moment where a book finds you just when you need it. As it was, Marilla of Green Gables found me the third week of September and it was simply just what I needed. 

There is that feeling of hesitation when reading a book that takes places in a beloved world and its not written by the original author. Would it measure up? Would it feel forced? Would Avonlea feel different under a different author's hand and imagination? I worried about these things a bit as I started but I felt like I had a few things working in my favor. One, I hadn't re read Anne of Green Gables for almost three years (and chose not to this fall, once I saw this book was releasing). Two, I read the author's note. I highly recommend reading Sarah McCoy's notes at the end of the book. Nothing there will ruin the story for you. Reading her note opened my eyes to the dedication and time that went into this story and how deeply respectful the author was of L.M. Montgomery's world. I love that she used one line from Anne of Green Gables to fuel her story, a line that had touched McCoy her whole life. This isn't a book written by just another "fan" of Anne, this is a truly well written and thoughtful story of a character I personally really enjoyed spending time with. 

Marilla of Green Gables took me back to Avonlea, years before Anne journeyed there, when Marilla was just a young girl herself. I enjoyed meeting her this way, seeing Matthew grow up as a quiet young man, and see what may have happened between Marilla and John Blythe. This story took me no time to read, just a few days, and when I finished I really and truly was sad to say goodbye to Avonlea and Marilla. If anything, to me this is what makes a book worth reading. That feeling of leaving friends behind when you close the book at the end, feeling sad that there isn't more to read. 

If you love Anne or even just enjoyed her story at some point in your life I highly recommend reading this glimpse into Marilla's life as a young girl.

Marilla de Green Gables

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