Diana Killeen

It's been ages since I read the Anne of Green Gables books, but the fondness I felt for the characters created by L.M. Montgomery has never faded. When I saw Marilla of Green Gables on display in my grandchildren's library, I knew I had to read it. I was not disappointed by anything Sarah McCoy wrote in this delightful novel. She created the young Marilla in a way that made sense of the Marilla in the Anne series. How she became who she was, a stoic and serious spinster who loved her island and its people, was fleshed out in this novel. She was loved by many and could've married...but that would be a different story. She was the perfect "mother" for Anne who also loved the island and its people perhaps as much as Marilla did. I couldn't put it down. It was genuine and just perfect after so many years away from Green Gables.