5 comments about FURTHER CHRONICLES OF AVONLEA: Aunt Cynthia's Persian Cat; The Materializing of Cecil; Her Father's Daughter; Jane's Baby The Dream-Child; The Brother Who Failed; The Return of Hester; The Little Brown Book of Miss Emily; Sara's Way; The Son of His Mother.

1. The Anne books were among my favorites growing up, and I thought it would be fun to re-read them. Boy, was I wrong! "Aunt Cynthia's Persian Cat" and "The Materializing of Cecil" were both cute, and "The Brother who Failed" had a nice end, but the morals of 1920 are more than a little disturbing now. In "The Education of Betty" a man marries his high school sweetheart's daughter, whom he helped raise from childhood, and in "In Her Selfless Mood" we are expected to sympathize with a woman who throws her life away on her no-account brother. And the less said of the **appallingly** racist "Tannis of the Flats" the better. The stories that are not embarrassingly outdated are sappy little romances. The Little House books retain their charm in a way Avonlea has not. I will not be sharing these chronicles with my children.



2. "Further Chronicles of Avonlea," the 'sequel' to "Chronicles of Avonlea," expands upon Avonlea's rich history with 15 additional short stories:

   "Aunt Cynthia's Persian Cat" -- Two sisters cat-sit their aunt's treasured white Persian while she's away for two months--until the cat disappears and one of the girls' annoying beaus comes to the rescue. A lighthearted tale for cat lovers. >> "The Materializing of Cecil" -- An old maid tries to impress the women in her sewing circle by concocting a tale of her imaginary past lover, Cecil Fenwick, who mysteriously materializes in Avonlea a short time later. Another amusing story. >> "Her Father's Daughter" -- A young woman invites her estranged father to her wedding against her mother's wishes. I thought their first meeting was slightly inappropriate, especially with the father asking for a kiss and hugging her when the girl wasn't aware of who he was. Not to mention the ending was a tad too contrived and sappy, though the daughter did show some backbone at least. >> "Jane's Baby" -- Two elderly, estranged sisters fight over possession of an orphaned child, even resorting to kidnapping. >> "The Dream-Child" -- The ghost of a young couple's 20-month-old baby returns to haunt them. An eerie, more darker story than the rest, but very good. I liked this one especially.

   "The Brother Who Failed" -- A family reunion is spoiled for one older man who is thought to be a failure by his Aunt Isabel, while his siblings are more successful with money and fame. >> "The Return of Hester" -- A young woman's difficult promise to her dying older sister of not marrying a certain man is revoked when her sister's ghost returns to play matchmaker. The ending was a bit abrupt. >> "The Little Brown Book of Miss Emily" -- After an unpopular old maid dies, she leaves Anne Shirley her diary in order for Anne and Diane to understand her. While Anne is mentioned in a couple other stories, it was nice to read from her perspective again, like in the Anne of Green Gables series, if only for a short bit, since the majority of the story is just diary excerpts. >> "Sara's Way" -- A young teacher's meddlesome two aunts try and push her to marry a well-to-do man against her wishes. But when his family suffers from financial trouble, she comes to his defense. >> "The Son of His Mother" -- An overly-possessive mother grows upset over her grown son's interest in another woman. This woman is obviously disturbed, and it's hard to like her, even with the story told from her point of view. Not one of the best here, and a bit too long.

   "The Education of Betty" -- A man offers to help his childhood sweetheart, a recent widow, in raising her wild 10-year-old daughter. After some time, he begins to develop unguardian-like feelings for the girl. This story almost felt like a G-rated Edwardian version of "Lolita." >> "In Her Selfless Mood" -- A young woman promises her dying mother that she'll care for her halfbrother. Readers will empathize with her, but question why she's so loyal to a family that dislikes her. >> "The Conscience Case of David Bell" -- A father's refusal to testify at their revivalist church makes his family feel disgraced. Not one of the best here. >> "Only a Common Fellow" -- A young bride's supposedly dead childhood sweetheart returns just in the nick of time on her wedding day. Romantics should like this one. >> "Tannis of the Flats" -- A multiracial woman's trip to Canada's Northwest ends in heartbreak when she falls for an English man who doesn't love her but another woman. There are some rather prejudiced remarks concerning Indians/Native Americans in this story, like referring to them as simple-minded "breeds" and stating that half-breeds are the worst enemy in the world--and that's just the beginning.

   Despite this ending story (and a couple others), "Further Chronicles of Avonlea" is a suitable read for everyone. I bought this book sometime when I was 9 or 10 and have enjoyed it ever since. Though this isn't a classic collection, diehard L. M. Montgomery fans will probably still like it, as well as the first collection: "Chronicles of Avonlea."




3. This book, which sort of follows the Anne of Green Gables series (and sort of doesn't connect to it) contains the following short stories:
   
   Aunt Cynthia's Persian Cat
   The Materializing of Cecil
   Her Father's Daughter
   Jane's Baby
   The Dream-Child
   The Brother Who Failed
   The Return of Hester
   The Little Brown Book of Miss Emily
   Sara's Way
   The Son of His Mother
   The Education of Betty
   In Her Selfless Mood
   The Conscience Case of David Bell
   Only a Common Fellow
   Tannis of the Flats
   
   Several were funny and light-hearted, but my favorite was the tender, loving short story, "The Brother Who Failed." In the end, you realize that there are other paths to success beyond the accumulation of worldly wealth, and that we are all capable of doing something to help another person -- even if we don't have a lot of money.
   
   I didn't care for "In Her Selfless Mood," a study in co-dependence and thwarted growth.
   
   I particularly didn't like the last story, which is so gratuitously and overtly racist as to deserve losing its place in elementary school libraries. I realize that this is strong censure, but I believe that it earns it with its stereotypical depictions of slovenly, ugly, vicious, scheming Native Americans and biracial people. It would be an act of mercy for the publisher to produce a library edition which omits the final story.
   
   (While it will not find space on my own bookshelves, my free-speech tendencies prevent me from having very serious objections to keeping it in public libraries, or in upper grades. In the one case I hope for more direct parental supervision [compared to zero parental involvement in the school library], and in the other, I hope that more experienced readers will recognize the racism for the nonsense that it is.)
   
   If you like the LM Montgomery's writing style and want to introduce a younger child to some of her shorter works, then let me suggest that you get this book -- and then read it aloud, so you can skip anything that YOU decide is inappropriate for your child.



4. Apparently, L.M. Montgomery did not want this collection of short stories to be published. Her publisher compiled a collection of stories that she rejected from inclusion into the Chronicles of Avonlea, and published this. (She sued them for this.)
   
   I think that it's interesting to read this collection in light of that. Some of the stories are the gentle, sweet ones we've come to expect from the author, while others are glaringly not. The last story has already been mentioned as being hopelessly racist and out of date. However I think that it should not be censored out of any future edition of this book (as has been suggested) because it is a reflection of its times. As a matter of fact, there are traces of Canada's racist attitudes of the time in LM Montgomery's more famous works too - even in the Anne of Green Gables series, where short but pointed bits of racism towards French Canadians appear. (In the 1985 TV mini-series, the story is given a modern update of sorts when the neighbor who offers to buy the Cuthberts' farm is a French Canadian; that would probably have been unthinkable in real turn of the last century Prince Edward Island.)
   
   While these things can jar modern sensibilities, they shouldn't be censored because they are a part of history. I suppose people who want to ban Huckleberry Finn from school curriculums might have a problem with the racism in any book, especially one for children or young adults, but how are we to learn from our past mistakes if we don't know about them?
   
   Beyond the racist last story, the other stories are perhaps of a lesser quality than the ones in Chronicles with some exceptions, but are worth reading nevertheless.



5. This is a rather nice collection of short stories, if you're already a L.M. Montgomery fan, you will enjoy this. I know I did.

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