A prequel to Anne of Green Gables, Before Green Gables tells the
story of Anne Shirley before she arrived at Green Gables. Born in
Nova Scotia, Anne is orphaned as a baby, and then spends her young
life moving from one foster home to another, escaping the reality
of her life through her vivid imagination and her untameable
spirit.
Trying to create a prequel to a classic Canadian novel like Anne of
Green Gables and trying to re-imagine one of the best loved
Characters in Canadian literature is no easy feat. Budge Wilson
gives a nice try, but I just think it's too hard to re-create that
character, due to the fondness we have for her. Even though Anne is
a very imaginative upbeat and intelligent little girl in the
original story, I found in this novel that Wilson made her a little
too eager and a little too intelligent for her age. The story
wasn't that creatively written. The way Wilson makes a lot of
everyday events a large portion of the book kind of drags the story
out and makes it too padded down, like when Anne is walking to
school or going to get eggs from the local "Egg Man".
I guess I'm just a purest; I like to think of Anne as I have known
her my whole life. However I did like the way the end of the book
ties nicely with the beginning of the original story. I suggest to
read the original saga of Anne and imagine for yourself what Anne's
life was like before.
Story *
Characters **
Readability **
Overall rating **