There’s a new Anne of Green Gables book coming out – Before Green Gables

There’s a new Anne of Green Gables book coming out–Before Green Gables. It’s not an old, recently-discovered manuscript by Lucy Maud Montgomery, but rather a new manuscript written by Canadian author Budge Wilson (Friendship: Stories, The Leaving ).

Budge Wilson is a great writer, and she clearly cares about Anne of Green Gables and about keeping true to the spirit of the books; she told the Montreal Gazette that she was blown away by reading Anne of Green Gables as an adult, and impressed by Anne’s resilience. Wilson agonized for two months about whether or not Montgomery would want her to write a prequel, but in the end she decided to do it–and it sounds like she put a lot of care and thought into the book.

Wilson had to submit a 38-page outline and sample chapter for approval by Montgomery’s family, before being given the go-ahead. Elizabeth Epperly, a Montgomery scholar, loves Wilson’s book, and the way that Wilson’s Anne also cherishes words and nature. The Montreal Gazette quoted Montgomery’s granddaughter as saying, about Wilson’s book, “I actually had tears in my eyes by the end. … She just really captured Anne’s spirit. She got Anne – she nailed it.”

Wilson draws on the characters and plot lines mentioned from the Anne of Green Gables books, though includes some new characters, such as an Egg Man who introduces Anne to a love of words, and gives her some encouragement and support while she endures abuse and neglect (remember Anne having to take care of all those twins?).

I love the Anne of Green Gables books–I read them so many times throughout my childhood, and many, many times since. I know that feeling of not wanting a good series to end–so it will be interesting for me to see if Before Green Gables will do that for me. Whether it does or doesn’t, I expect the book to be a good one, with many layers and depth.

There will be some Anne of Green Gables fans who won’t even want to pick up the book, since it’s not written by Montgomery herself, but there will be many others who will be curious. I know I am.

You can read more about this here.

February 3rd, 2008