Green Gables is being built but is not finished or named yet. Her brother, Matthew, is in his twenties, still living at home and helping on the farm. The next chapter takes the story back to Marilla as a thirteen-year-old girl. The book opens with a scene right before Marilla and Matthew decide that he needs help with the farm, and they discuss sending for an orphan boy. This interview shares some other background information as well. In this interview, McCoy tells how she searched and marked the Anne books for clues about Marilla herself. So that gave me impetus to read it for myself. So many dearly love the Anne of Green Gables series by Lucy Maud Montgomery: how could anyone in our day add to the story? Would it just be fan fiction? Would the author make Marilla’s story too modern and politically correct? Somewhere, in a link I forgot to note, I read that the Montgomery family was also wary of McCoy’s book, but liked it in the end. After the last page had been turned, I was still pondering the world that Marilla had been born into, how difficult it is to change the perceptions of others, and how important questioning our convictions and holding tight to them is.When I first saw mention of Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy, I was intrigued but wary. This novel was an easy and enjoyable read, but not simple. Smart and strong, Marilla finds a path within the expectations of the society around her even as she changes it. It speaks of the strength and importance of family and the possibility that one can change the world quietly, without a fuss. Marilla becomes the lady of the house, responsible for all the tasks that a farm wife must perform.īut, Marilla of Green Gables is not just about a young lady’s growing up, set in Prince Edward Island in the nineteenth century, it also tells the tale of the culture and politics of the time, as well as the struggle of slavery and inequality of races. In this heartfelt tale, we experience the world through her eyes, beginning with her 13 year when she is thrust into a life with adult responsibilities at the passing of her mother, who dies bearing her brother, Matthew.

With this novel, Sarah McCoy accomplishes both tasks, giving us a glimpse of the beginnings of Green Gables, where before Anne, there was Marilla.

Historical fiction, done well, can teach us about the world as it was even as it entertains and enthralls us.

Marilla of green gables by sarah mccoy