This has not been my week, and I desperately needed some comfort reading. I reached for a collection of short stories by LM Montgomery and found exactly what I wanted and needed.

This is, as the title says, a collection of stories about orphans. The introduction says that these stories culminated in the making of LMM's most famous work, but actually, only *some* of these stories were published before Anne of Green Gables. There is a common thread to all, however: people longing for family. The orphans in this collection range in age from young children to grown adults. Almost all of them follow the same story arc: a poor orphan discovers long-lost blood relatives who welcome them with open arms, generally because they bear an uncanny resemblance to long-dead siblings.

My personal favorites are "The Running Away of Chester" (by far the longest story, with the best developed characters), "Charlotte's Quest," and "Freda's Adopted Grave."

If you're looking for variety, look elsewhere: this is all about the cozy feeling that these sorts of sentimental stories evoke. If you need or want a good dose of it, this is an excellent collection! ( )

L.M. Montgomery is a long time and all time favorite author of mine. She writes the perfect girls story with just the right mix of adventure, drama and happiness. I find her books a comfort to read and have re-read most of her works many times over the years. They are classics for a reason and that reason is they are great. These are true comfort books for me and books I enjoy re-reading again and again. ( )

formulaic but enjoyable, if you like predictable, heartwarming LMM stories (clearly, i do). ( )

I loved these stories as a child--even more than the other books by this author. I think if I went back and read it now that I would probably cringe at the cheesiness. ( )

Very sweet. The biggest problem with this collection was the repetitiveness - which wouldn't, of course, have been a problem in the original individual magazine publications. Reading them all together they feel rather Horatio Alger. The themes are very similar - the obvious one of "orphan finds home and/or family", but also "you look just like him/her" or "I recognize that name" as a means of identifying a lost or unknown family member. And (the most Alger-like aspect) - doing the right thing is the most likely trigger for recognition - admitting to a false name, a prank, or running away immediately gets you recognized as family. I can also see the proto-Anne in many of the orphans here - dreamers of various sorts. Still, each story was quite sweet, and many brought tears to my eyes. One story cuts off too soon - there seems to be a missing page or so on The Softening of Miss Cynthia, as it stops before the happy ending (though what the end will be is already obvious - it's not that we're left hanging). I'm glad I read it, but I don't think I need to reread. ( )