Chronicles of Avonlea
Lucy Maud Montgomery
MP3 CD
(IDB Productions, Jan. 1, 2016)
Chronicles of Avonlea is a collection of short stories by Lucy Maud Montgomery relating to Montgomery’s most well-known and probably her most beloved character: strong-willed and sensitive Anne Shirley from the small (and fictional) Canadian village called Avonlea. If you are familiar with Anne Shirley stories, you will be familiar with most characters in these stories – most of them make at least a brief reference to Anne, but they focus on the lives of others in the village. The collection includes 12 stories about Anne’s neighbors, offered to the reader in Montgomery’s signature style, made easy to read, highly entertaining for all ages and very educative, too. The topics that the stories revolve around are everyday events that become central in the life of the characters: in The Winning of Lucinda, long feuding neighbors kiss and make up; in Aunt Olivia’s Beau, there is courtship and shy love; in The Miracle at Carmody, the reader sees two ladies trying to raise a child, to mention just a few of the topics. Chronicles of Avonlea was first published in 1912 and it was a huge success. It was followed in 1920 by a sequel entitled Further Chronicles of Avonlea, a similarly great success. Though the two collections are the only books that do not feature Anne Shirley as their protagonist, Montgomery was such an excellent master of character and storytelling that she could create perfect stories around any character. The stories are all sweet, the language that Montgomery uses is full of beautiful and often unusual metaphors and similes, and even though each story comes with a teaching, each comes with lots of hilarious happenings, too. This makes Chronicles of Avonlea just as entertaining as the other, more famous stories by Lucy Maud Montgomery and just as suitable for readers of any age.