Instead, I discovered them in college when a dorm friend, stunned that I'd never read them, loaned me her copies. With their lovely prose, memorable characters, and perfectly evoked Prince Edward Island setting, they were a perfect break from studying for statistics finals or writing up case studies for my marketing classes.
Perhaps because I came to the books so late, my favorites aren't the ones about Anne's childhood. I'll happily re-read any of the series when I need to unwind, but my favorites are Anne's House of Dreams, set during the first two years of Anne's marriage, and Rilla of Ingleside, which details Anne's youngest daughter's experience living through WWI as a teen on the Canadian homefront. Rilla was written only a year or so after the war ended, which adds to its poignancy. And really, if you can get through the Dog Monday part at the end without crying, you're made of sterner stuff than I am.
I think I was a pretty widely-read kid 40+ years ago and I'd love to know how or why these flew under my radar. I never heard of them until I saw the wonderful mini-series on TV. I've since gone back and read some of them, but I need to finish them up.
ReplyDeleteI think the miniseries brought them back into the public eye in a lot of ways. If you enjoy the Anne books, you'd probably like her lesser-known Emily and Pat series as well.
ReplyDeleteI read these as a kid, and then the Gutenberg versions kept me entertained through many a temp job.
ReplyDeleteAnd the current Random One-Off Project Idea is a cross between Rilla and LotR . (I do approach writing books like some people approach making cocktails, I find: saaay, X would go great with a little Y, and maybe a bit of Goldschlager...) Don't know when I'll get around to writing it, but the influence is definitely there.
Rilla and LOTR? This I gotta see...
ReplyDelete