Book No. 80 of 2020
Read this in between letter-writing for a Get Out the Vote campaign today; it was an utterly delightful, romantic, escapist read.
This is the first of Montgomery’s writing I’ve read outside of Anne of Green Gables; there are very similar themes but it has a much more grown-up (and at times, more cynical) feel, which makes the fairy-tale romance feel oddly more satisfying. It’s utterly, utterly delightful—heroine Valancy’s retorts are hilarious and there is something really validating about witnessing her acting on her desires (which feels at times like a primer on why women need feminism). The way the romantic arc is shaped, and the way in which Valancy takes her fate into her own hands, is satisfying in the places that classic girlhood coming-of-age stories tend to falter—a phenomenon described brilliantly by Rebecca Traister and Jia Tolentino.
The indulgently lush and beautiful descriptions of the Canadian wilderness, as well as the sparkling personalities of the main characters (there was some banter that I had to savor repeatedly), are what carry this novel and make it such a joy to read. The primary plot device is a tad contrived, you can see all the twists coming from a mile away, and the happy ending has big wish fulfillment energy, but that doesn’t keep this from being a totally charming story that I fully enjoyed.
Similar Reads
Very similar arc and vibe as Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess.
Elements like the tiresome mother and the socially fraught snark gave me big Pride and Prejudice vibes.