Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy
By Taylor Jasmine | On October 23, 2018 | Updated September 23, 2022 | Comments (0)
Marilla of Green Gables, a novel by Sarah McCoy (2018), is a historical journey that imagines the life of Marilla Cuthbert long before she and her brother Matthew adopt Anne Shirley, better known to readers as Anne of Green Gables.
In the publisher’s words: “For anyone who loves the original Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery and longs for more stories from Prince Edward Island, Marilla of Green Gables, a new novel by New York Times Bestselling author Sarah McCoy (William Morrow, October 23, 2018) will be an incredibly rewarding rewarding return to the beloved stories.
Anyone who has devoured the original series knows Marilla as the stern yet loving spinster (as unmarried women were then termed), who, along with her bachelor brother Matthew who adopt the plucky and imaginative orphan Anne, even though they had requested a boy to help around the farm.
This new novel is a beautifully wrought imagining of how Marilla got to be who she was, with a deliciously feminist spin.
Marilla of Green Gables is a marvelously entertaining and moving historical novel, set in rural Prince Edward Island in the nineteenth century. It follows the young life of Marilla Cuthbert, and the choices that will open her life to the possibility of heartbreak — and unimaginable greatness.
Plucky and ambitious, in the new novel Marilla Cuthbert is thirteen years old when her world is turned upside down. Her beloved mother dies in childbirth, and Marilla suddenly must bear the responsibilities of a farm wife: cooking, sewing, keeping house, and overseeing the day-to-day life of Green Gables with her brother, and father.
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The book that started it all,
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
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Her one connection to the wider world is Aunt Elizabeth “Izzy” Johnson, her mother’s sister, who managed to escape from Avonlea to the bustling city of St. Catharines. An opinionated spinster, Aunt Izzy’s talent as a seamstress has allowed her to build a thriving business and make her own way in the world.
Emboldened by her aunt, Marilla dares to venture beyond the safety of Green Gables and discovers new friends and new opportunities. She raises funds for an orphanage run by the Sisters of Charity in nearby Nova Scotia. She embarks on a romance with the charming son of a neighbor, who offers her a possibility of future happiness — but Marilla is in no rush to trade one farm life for another.
She soon finds herself caught up in the dangerous work of politics, and abolition — jeopardizing all she cherishes, including her bond with her new beau.
Marilla must face a reckoning between her dreams of making a difference in the wider world and the small-town reality of life at Green Gables.”
About the author: Sarah McCoy is a New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author. McCoy’s work has been featured in Real Simple, The Millions, Your Health Monthly, Huffington Post and other publications.
She has taught English writing at Old Dominion University and at the University of Texas at El Paso. She lives with her husband, an orthopedic sports surgeon, and their dog, Gilbert, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Visit her at SarahMcCoy.com.
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You might also enjoy: Marilla of Green Gables: A Future Feminist
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PRAISE for MARILLA OF GREEN GABLES
“Prepare to meet Marilla, a captivating heroine who will transport you back to the treasured world of Anne of Green Gables. Rich in historical detail, this charming novel vividly explores love, loss, friendship, and the coming-to-self of a girl on the cusp of womanhood.”
— Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees
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“L.M. Montgomery’s Marilla Cuthbert flares to life in Sarah McCoy’s enchanting novel of Avonlea. Her story of wrenching family sacrifice and the enduring pleasures of home, is as much a love letter to the world of Green Gables as it is a breath of fresh air. Hats off to McCoy for enlivening this classic with such heart and grace.”
— Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife and Love and Ruin
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“Another girl once came of age at Green Gables. Spunky, smart, buffeted by tides of duty and ambition, loss and love, young Marilla finds her voice in Sarah McCoy’s beautiful rendering of a beloved place, a complex woman, and a long-ago time. Deftly and tenderly told, Marilla of Green Gables is a must read for anyone who adored Avonlea and Anne and ever wondered, what came before?”
—Lisa Wingate,New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours
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“Sarah McCoy has given readers a precious gift: the opportunity to step back into the world of Avonlea, and the chance to get to know Marilla Cuthbert as a leading lady in her own right. In McCoy’s skillful and sensitive hands, Marilla emerges as a heroine of depth, complexity, and heart.
I savored my time with this cast of old friends, enjoying the dilemma of whether to speed through these compelling pages or to pause and relish everything about the lovely world imagined within them.”
— Allison Pataki, New York Times bestselling author
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