This book contains a number of short stories tangentially related to beloved character Anne Shirley, of Anne of Green Gables fame. In total, there are twelve stories, each dealing with the various going-ons of people in the small towns of Prince Edward Island.

Somewhat recently I decided to re-read all of the Anne books in order, selecting audiobook versions this time around. It was the first time I had read any of these books since I was a child myself, and not all of them lived up to the memories. But I digress, mentioning this here only to say that I decided to continue on with this Chronicles of Avonlea book that is not quite an official part of the Anne of Green Gables series. I no longer recall if I read this particular title as a child or not, although apparently some of these stories became the basis of the television series Road to Avonlea, which I loved as a child but have not revisited as an adult. (Frankly, I don't see any resemblance between the two media beyond the setting, although as noted, it's been a long time since I watched Road to Avonlea.)

The stories are completely unconnected to one another and bounce around in locations and possibly time as well. It's a little unclear on the timeframe for some of these stories; the book itself was written between the second and third titles of the Anne of Green Gables series proper. Despite what its name implies, this book takes place in several towns on Prince Edward Island, not just the fictional Avonlea. Anne is a notable character in a few stories, but other times she is merely mentioned in the briefest of passing comments, and sometimes she does not have a role at all.

In "The Hurrying of Ludovic," Anne plays matchmaker and is a little obnoxious about it in my opinion, but all's well that ends well, I guess. "Old Lady Lloyd" was apparently so forgettable that I started writing this review before I finished reading the rest of the stories so they wouldn't fade away from memory, too. In "Each in His Own Tongue," a grandfather learns that he can't keep a passion for music away from his grandson just because of his own grief. In "Little Joscelyn," a frail, elderly woman reminisces about a young boarder who used to reside at the family farm and who is now a famous singer touring all over Canada. In "The Winning of Lucinda," a pair of quarreling ex-lovers are reunited after things go awry at a family wedding (because, yes, they are distant cousins, and that's one of the moments where the age of this book is the most glaring). In "Old Man Shaw's Girl," a father expectantly waits for his daughter to return home after a few years away and worries that she will no longer find their small-town home to her taste.

The back half of the book starts off with "Aunt Olivia's Beau," which is probably the story I dislike the most out of everything Montgomery ever wrote. An older woman reconnects with a suitor from her younger days, agreeing to marry him now that he's made money out in the western part of the country and is planning to return home to PEI. But once he arrives, showering her with lavish gifts she doesn't want, making a mess of her neat home, and buying a property out of town away from her family, she breaks off the engagement. Then, in a last-minute reversal right before he embarks on a journey away from PEI again, she changes her mind and in a wild flurry goes to the train station to ask him to marry her despite all this. I really hate this story. The amount of times "old maid" or some variation of it is used in a short story is disgusting. The beau, who admittedly seems smitten with Olivia and says he's wiling to change when she breaks off the engagement, is entirely oblivious to what his finance actually likes and does not make any actual changes before she takes him back. Her whole family basically just shames her and her "old maid" ways, making her feel like she has no choice but to marry. It could be a sweet story if she chose to marry him despite her family's objections to his poverty, but that's not the story. The story is he now has money and she prefers her life of singlehood but suddenly instead she *must* marry him rather than be an "old maid" forever. I hate it so much. And, frankly, for anyone who wants to argue that it is 'of its time' -- it's not. Plenty of women in the early 1900s were unmarried by choice, particularly if they had the financial means to do so, which it appears Olivia does.

"Quarantine at Alexander Abraham's" explores what happens when a self-described "man hater" and a self-described "woman hater" are forced into a weeks' long medical quarantine together in what frankly could be developed into a rom-com film script with some tweaks to make it more modern. In "Pa Sloane's Purchase," a man's love of auctions gets the better of him and he ends up bidding on a baby (yup, an actual, live baby ... another one of those moments where the book shows its age). In the largely humorous story of "The Courting of Prissy Strong," a widower tries to strike up an old flame despite her elder sister's strong disapproval, and Anne comes to the rescue with an unorthodox fix. Throughout "The Miracle at Carmody," a pair of siblings (not the Cuthberts) struggle on how best to raise their mischievous adopted child (not Anne Shirley). Finally, "The End of a Quarrel" concludes the collection with a story about a pair of middle-aged people who re-meet after years apart and re-kindle an old romance.

Some of the stories are a little too saccharine for my taste and they definitely re-tread the same ground with many stories being about similar themes of lovers separated by circumstances and/or time but eventually being thrust into each other's paths once more. Overall, they just give me the unsatisfied feeling that many works of short fiction do -- there's just not enough time to learn about these characters or grow feelings toward them that would make their stories remarkable. Although Anne's adventures over time could be noted as rather mundane, the love the reader has toward Anne as a character over the course of several novels help sustains the plotlines. Here, that's simply not the case because Anne is an ancillary character at best and the other characters are generally not ones we've met before so we don't have any history with them. It might have been more compelling to get richer stories for 'side' characters from the main series (e.g., what Diana Barry was up to while Anne was away at college), but that's not what Montgomery chose to write.

If you are a hard-core completionist or really, truly fell in love with the world of Avonlea, this book is worth checking out. However, you can read the rest of the Anne of Green Gables series without missing anything by skipping this title.

The audiobook version I listened to was narrated by Grace Conlin, who also narrated some of the Anne of Green Gables audiobooks I listed to this round, so that's good for continuity's sake, although many of the characters here aren't in the other books and vice versa. Conlin was one of the better audiobook narrators I've encountered along my journey of re-reading this series, so that's a plus. ( )

Family Saga

Love all of the Anne of Green Gables books, especially enjoying revisiting via audiobooks. Highly recommend to all. Adds to Anne's story, well narrated.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: Chronicles of Avonlea is a collection of short stories by L.M. Montgomery, related to the Anne of Green Gables series. It features a number of stories relating to the fictional Canadian village of Avonlea, and was first published in 1912. ( )

My favorite of the Anne of Green Gables series. ( )

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. ( )