First Book of the Year (2019)

I immediately knew which book I would chose this year. From the moment this was available for pre-order, I have longed to own it and dive right in. When it arrived, I was knee deep in showing houses and in the middle of my big house clean out. Plus I had, once again, requested too many books to review for virtual book tours (at least I am consistent).

The cover art is stunning. The story sounds intriguing. Who wouldn't want to meet a younger Marilla Cuthbert, see her romance with John Blythe unfold, and wonder if the reason she was so hard on Anne when she came to Green Gables was because she, too, once was a dreamer?

While I've never read a book by McCoy, my hope is she will do the Marilla of Lucy Maud Montgomery's books justice as the story unfolds.

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 has died 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. With her friend Rachel, she joins 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.

Purchase Marilla of Green Gables here!