Marilla Before Anne
By Louise Michalos
Publisher: Vagrant Press (May 25, 2021)
Paperback: 272 pages
ISBN-10: 1771089288
ISBN-13: 978-1771089289
Publisher’s
Blurb:
Marilla
Cuthbert was fifty-two years old when the plucky red-headed Anne Shirley came
to live with her and her brother, Matthew, at Green Gables farm on Prince
Edward Island. A seemingly cold and dour spinster, her heart eventually softens
to the loveable orphan girl. But for over a century readers have wondered, who
was Marilla before Anne?
In Louise
Michalos's remarkable debut novel, readers are introduced to a spirited
eighteen-year-old Marilla Cuthbert―a girl not unlike Anne herself―who is
desperately in love, and whose whole life is spread before her. But when a
moment of defiance brings life-changing consequences, a new Marilla begins to
take shape, one who would learn to bear tragedy like a birthright, and loss as
an inevitability, and who would hold steadfast to the secrets that could
shatter the lives of everyone around her.
Weaving its
way from Marilla's early life in Avonlea to her coming-of-age in Halifax, Nova
Scotia, and back, Marilla Before Anne is the story readers
of Anne of Green Gables have longed for. Told with a
refreshingly original East Coast voice, this exquisite, heartbreaking work of
historical fiction takes readers on a journey back in time, to the Green Gables
where Marilla Cuthbert lived, loved, and learned, long before Anne.
My
thoughts:
Well, of
course I was intrigued at the idea of a prequel for Anne of Green Gables!
Sadly, this
wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. Mind, my Marilla is the one
portrayed by Colleen Dewhurst in the beloved miniseries. It was rather
difficult to see a connection between the two.
We first
meet Marilla as a flighty young woman sneaking out of her strict parents’ home
for a night of dancing with the beau that her parents strongly disapprove of. A
dock worker at the port, he is only in town for a short while. He is determined
to marry her, but her parents have someone else in mind.
Long story
short, he has to leave town; she discovers she’s pregnant. After a tragic
accident, Marilla believes him to be dead and goes to another town to bear her
baby, whom she gives up for adoption.
A series of
rather unbelievable coincidences happen after this. By the end, when Anne is
introduced, it’s really too much to believe.
A lot of
things happen in between, of course, and we see many beloved characters. But
the overall premise of the book just doesn’t do it for me.
Possible
Objectionable Material:
Unmarried
sex, drinking, disobedience. And if you’re like me, it just doesn’t feel like Marilla.
Who
Might Like This Book:
People who
love the source material, love stories, young women who fight expectations.
Thank you to
the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC for my honest reaction.
The Prodigal Daughter (Linda
Wallheim #5)
By Mette Ivie Harrison
Publisher: Soho Crime (May 25, 2021)
Hardcover: 264 pages
ISBN-10: 1641292458
ISBN-13: 978-1641292450
Publisher’s Blurb:
Linda Wallheim, increasingly disillusioned with her religion, has begun
marriage counseling with her husband, Kurt, a bishop in the Mormon Church. On
other days, Linda occupies herself with happier things, like visiting her five
grown sons and their families.
When Linda’s eldest son, Joseph, tells her his infant
daughter’s babysitter, a local teenager named Sabrina Jensen, has vanished,
Linda can’t help but ask questions. Her casual inquiries form the portrait of a
girl under extreme pressure from her parents to be the perfect Mormon daughter,
and it eventually emerges that Sabrina is the victim of a terrible crime at the
hands of her own classmates—including the high school’s golden boys and future
church leaders.
Linda’s search for Sabrina will lead her to the
darker streets of Utah and cause her to question whether the Mormon community’s
most privileged and powerful will be called to task for past sins.
My Thoughts:
I have enjoyed this series and its warts-and-all look of life as a Latter-day Saint. Her protagonist, Linda Wallheim, echoes Harrison’s own struggle with her faith in the LDS Church as she has documented on Twitter. This continues to be present in this fifth installment.
This story of a girl who is running away from expectations and from the aftermath of what happened to her is gritty and real. There are no neat and tidy endings. Linda sometimes makes things worse and sometimes makes things better.
I struggled with her relationship with her husband. It’s almost as if she’s looking for everything he does wrong. She does acknowledge when he is sensitive to her needs, but it seems like mostly she’s given up on her marriage.
Possible Objectionable
Material:
A girl recounts being raped. Lots of people get off without the punishment they deserve. Patriarchal attitudes. A marriage in trouble. Crisis of faith.
Who Might Like This Book:
Mystery lovers. People
who like moral ambivalence and ambiguity “shades of gray”, not just black and
white.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
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