Marilla of Green Gables: A Novel

Fans of L.M. Montgomery’s wildly popular Anne of Green Gables books will enjoy this new story by Sarah McCoy.

Marilla of Green Gables tells Marilla Cuthbert’s story based on a passage from Anne of Green Gables in which Marilla admits she once could have been in a relationship with John Blythe, father of Gilbert Blythe from the original books. It is a romance, but the story includes some historical elements to the book, such as the Rebellions of 1837. The historically accurate aspects of the book served as a backdrop to Marilla forming the Ladies Aid Society in Avonlea and helped to separate the story from fan fiction.

Readers who enjoy the Green Gables books will love this addition. There is something intensely soothing, gentle, and hopeful about Anne of Green Gables. I first read the Anne of Green Gables books when I was eight years old. I loved the deep bonds the characters formed, the way L.M. Montgomery wrote the thoughts of an optimistic child, and the depiction of a simple, idyllic, and rural time. As an adult, I’m enjoying the resurgence of this story in the Netflix series Anne with an E.

Marilla is an interesting character, looking back on her as an adult, but I did not find her to be so when I first read the original books. Marilla of Green Gables shows how Marilla came to be a direct, no-nonsense person through the losses she experienced. While the book does not capture the particular magic of the original material exactly, it comes close.