{"id":36768,"date":"2019-09-19T23:14:40","date_gmt":"2019-09-20T03:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=36768"},"modified":"2019-09-19T23:14:40","modified_gmt":"2019-09-20T03:14:40","slug":"review-of-further-chronicles-of-avonlea-by-l-m-montgomery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=36768","title":{"rendered":"Review of Further Chronicles of Avonlea, by L. M. Montgomery"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Further Chronicles of Avonlea<\/em><\/p>\n

by L. M. Montgomery<\/p>\n

Seal Books, 1987. First published in 1920. 199 pages.
\nReview written September 17, 2019, from my own copy.<\/p>\n

I feel guilty reading this book, because I know full well that it was published against the author\u2019s wishes and without her getting any of the profits. She, in fact, sued her publisher to desist publication, and won that case. It\u2019s kind of too bad to go against her wishes after her death. <\/p>\n

And yet\u2026 stories by L. M. Montgomery!<\/p>\n

Now, I was enjoying them thoroughly, marveling in her quirky, humorous characters and the wide variety of situations \u2013 until I got to the last two.<\/p>\n

What happened when this book was published was that L. M. Montgomery had already split with the publisher of Anne of Green Gables<\/a><\/em>, L. C. Page. So that publisher pulled out stories she had submitted for possible publication in the first volume — Chronicles of Avonlea<\/a><\/em> — but that they had decided not to use.<\/p>\n

In her lawsuit, Maud Montgomery claimed that the book damaged her reputation, because she had used some of the plots here in other places. <\/p>\n

Well, I disagreed about it damaging her reputation \u2013 until I got to the last two stories. The next-to-the-last story uses the same plot as one of the subplots used in Anne\u2019s House of Dreams<\/a><\/em>. There may be other stories repeated, but I couldn\u2019t pinpoint where. I was enjoying them greatly.<\/p>\n

But the last story \u2013 the last story is completely, horribly, blatantly racist toward Indians and \u201chalf-breeds.\u201d Just horribly so. It\u2019s assumed that they are inferior and shouldn\u2019t dare to aspire to fall in love with someone with a \u201cgood pedigree.\u201d And things are said about their \u201cnatures\u201d \u2013 which are simply despicable. It\u2019s even worse than the racism in Kilmeny of the Orchard<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now, she was a product of her time, and everyone around her thought that way \u2013 but that story, \u201cTannis of the Flats\u201d \u2013 is still horrible. And yes, reading it damages her reputation for me \u2013 though I doubt that\u2019s the story she was thinking of.<\/p>\n

I would have been better off if I\u2019d bowed to the author\u2019s wishes and refused to read this book.<\/p>\n

But I was enjoying some gems before I got to that point! L. M. Montgomery got her start writing stories, and she mastered the form. So let me just give my readers fair warning \u2013 you might want to stop before you get to the end.<\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Teens\/further_chronicles_of_avonlea.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on my own copy.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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