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It's become clear we need a new review column here at The Edge of the Forest. Welcome to What?, the review
column devoted to books that just don't fit neatly into any particular category.
This month Julie M. Prince reviews a book published for adults—even though it is a prequel to a classic
Middle Grade novel. Clearly, this is a What? book. But it also, writes Julie, is a very good book.
Before Green Gables
by Budge Wilson
Reviewed by Julie M. Prince
Anne of Green Gables has officially been circulating for one hundred years. I feel a completely irrational sense of pride about that. As if I
somehow had something to do with it, just because I'm a huge fan of L.M. Montgomery's books. Just because, as a teenager, I spent years tracking down and
buying every book ever published during her lifetime, and several compilations that were published after. Just because I keep a tattered copy of her diary
on the nightstand next to my own and because my husband knows that in every used book store, I must go to the "Montgomery section" and faun over the
various covers to see what's new and different in stock. My book club knows what to expect from me at our annual holiday book exchange: a wrapped
Montgomery book.
Enough. I've established myself as a Montgomery worshipper. I have no delusions of being the only one. I was paired up to room with a fellow fan at a
recent writers' conference. We're still bosom buddies, and she's far from being the only kindred spirit I've found over the years.
My point in this long, rather drawn out introduction is that for most fans, the idea of a prequel to Anne's story written by anyone other than her own
beloved creator casts great doubt. Excitement, yes, because who wouldn't be excited at the prospect of new material being circulated about a favorite
subject—but an excitement tinged with great uncertainty.
So, it was with hesitation that I picked up Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson. To assuage my fears, I read a little about the author. She was
born in Nova Scotia. So far so good. She's an acclaimed, award-winning author of children's and young adult fiction. Okay. So, she sounded qualified. But,
did she love Anne? Well, the bio didn't say, but in her acknowledgements, the author thanked the many people who helped with her research and credited many
people who clearly did know and love Anne. Plus, Montgomery's family apparently approved the book. All right, I was determined to at least give the book a
chance...grudgingly.
And, that grudging attitude got in the way of my enjoyment. I set the author up to fail, and I was determined to catch her faults and magnify them. So,
I did. She didn't have Montgomery's voice. She switched viewpoints at the drop of a hat, and was frequently repetitive. Aha! I knew she couldn't pull it
off!
But the thing is, she did. She really did! Budge Wilson did her homework and she captured Anne's life in a way that paid homage to both my beloved carrot-topped heroine and her creator. Once I got over myself and allowed Wilson's own unique voice to penetrate that hardened critical heart, I settled in and
thoroughly enjoyed learning this author's interpretation of how Anne Shirley became an exquisitely rare and beautiful being. How that scrawny orphan girl
became the strong, loveable, independent person we all admired, even before she reached Green Gables.
Come on, Anne fans, admit it. We all wondered how it was possible, given her background, that Anne wasn't totally warped. For those, like me, who are just
curious enough to pick up Before Green Gables, I offer up one suggestion. Put your expectations on hold and just enjoy this book like the rare
treat it is.
Before Green Gables, by Budge Wilson. Putnam Adult, 2008. ISBN: 0-3991-5468-X.
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