Before Green Gables
By: Budge Wilson
Penguin Canada 2008
A prequel to Anne of Green Gables, Before Green Gables tells the story of Anne Shirley before she arrived at Green Gables. Born in Nova Scotia, Anne is orphaned as a baby, and then spends her young life moving from one foster home to another, escaping the reality of her life through her vivid imagination and her untameable spirit.
Trying to create a prequel to a classic Canadian novel like Anne of Green Gables and trying to re-imagine one of the best loved Characters in Canadian literature is no easy feat. Budge Wilson gives a nice try, but I just think it’s too hard to re-create that character, due to the fondness we have for her. Even though Anne is a very imaginative upbeat and intelligent little girl in the original story, I found in this novel that Wilson made her a little too eager and a little too intelligent for her age. The story wasn’t that creatively written. The way Wilson makes a lot of everyday events a large portion of the book kind of drags the story out and makes it too padded down, like when Anne is walking to school or going to get eggs from the local “Egg Man”.
I guess I’m just a purest; I like to think of Anne as I have known her my whole life. However I did like the way the end of the book ties nicely with the beginning of the original story. I suggest to read the original saga of Anne and imagine for yourself what Anne’s life was like before.
Story *
Characters **
Readability **
Overall rating **
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