A Prequel to Anne of Green Gables?



Usually, sequals, prequels, and attempts to retell popular novels from the point of view of minor characters is something I shy away from. Occasionally, though, I'm too curious to stay away, even when I know I should.

I fell victim to two books based on DuMaurier's Rebecca: Susan Hill's Mrs. DeWinter and (can't remember her name) Rebecca's Tale. The first was dreary and unsatisfying, and despite what I hear about Hill, I haven't been able to pick up another one of her books. The second was just awful. The writing was jarring, and the characters grated on my nerves. To be fair, however, the premise was interesting: a packet of letters surfaces years after Rebecca's death and...(can't remember the rest, so maybe it wasn't as interesting after all.)

I have yet to read March, though the fact that it won the Pulitzer put it on my list. Also, it doesn't (to my knowledge) delve too much into the girls' life at home because it sticks mainly with Mr. March on the battlefield. I might be able to handle that.

Finn surfaced last year, and it's on my shelf. Huck's dad was a total snake, and I hear that Clinch did ok with filling in the cracks, but how can a person really follow Twain? Sort of impossible task, I would think.

The Wide Sargasso Sea is also on the radar screen, but, again, haven't tackled it. How does one improve upon Jane Eyre? Perhaps that's the point; it's not improvement, just expansion of the beloved texts.

And then we, ultimately, come to Gone With the Wind. Margaret Mitchell is spinning over her sequals, prequels, and revisions (Wind Done Gone), and I'm REALLY holding out on reading Scarlet, though I have it on my shelf, too, and curiousity might get the the better of this cat soon enough. I still argue that there was no way she got him back. Sometimes people just go too far. Rhett Butler's People is supposed to be good.

And now, there is a prequel to Anne of Green Gables. Read the review here. I just can't go there. Some things are sacred, and there is NO WAY this is anywhere close to what I have imagined for my Anne, so I'm going to leave this one to the less passionate readers.

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