Book Review: Before GreenGables

I love Anne of Green Gables.  Anne Shirley is my favorite literary character.  I just cannot get enough of her adventures.  Every time I read about Anne, I find my mind opening up.  There is a lot of “scope for the imagination” in the life of a mother of three boys, and reading about Anne helps me to tap into that.  L.M. Montgomery wrote a total of 8 books about Anne and her family.  She chronicled Anne’s life from age 11 on up.  She mentions those first 11 years, giving a hint as to what Anne’s life was like before Matthew Cuthbert picked her up at the Bright River train station.  But for 100 years, the details have been left to the imagination of the reader.

Until now.

Canadian author Budge Wilson recently released her novel Before Green Gables.  This book tackles the first 11 years of young Anne’s life, from her birth to the deaths of her parents to her two foster families and her short stay at the orphanage in Hopetown. 

There are certain things that had to happen in Anne’s life, things that Montgomery wrote about and could not be changed.  All of these negatives made Anne into the girl I have grown to love.  Still, I couldn’t help wishing things would be different.

Wilson painted a beautiful picture of the love shared between Walter and Bertha Shirley.  They didn’t have much to give their daughter, but for the first three months of her life, they showered baby Anne with enough love to last through a lifetime.  In Wilson’s version, their deaths were very poetic and romantic, just as Anne would have imagined them.

Anne was never spared any hardship.  Her first foster father was a drunk who made life miserable for everyone in his home.  Still, he taught Anne about unconditional love.  That was probably the most important lesson she learned in her early life.  Wilson shows where Anne’s big heart came from in every scene with Mr. Thomas.

Thanks to Budge Wilson, Anne’s early years were heart wrenching, but not nearly as unbearable as I had always believed them to.  It was so good to see that Anne did have brief moments of happiness before meeting Matthew and Marilla.

At first, I was a little nervous about reading this book.  Could it possibly do the story of Anne Shirley justice?  I did not think that anyone other than L.M. Montgomery could ever handle telling even a tiny part of Anne’s story.  But Wilson did it.  No, it is not as good as the original, but I don’t think even Wilson expected it would be.  Before Green Gables is a beautiful book that answers a lot of questions about this precocious redheaded orphan.  I highly recommend it to any Anne of Green Gables fan.  Reading this book is a wonderful way to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the publication of the classic story.