Customer Reviews

Chronicles of Avonlea (L.M. Montgomery Books)

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This book is an endearing collection of short stories. The first time I read the Anne series at age 10, I refused to read this book because it wasn't about Anne. However, at age 21, I have grown up and recently read it. Read this and become enmeshed in other Avonlea lives. Also, look forward to references to our favorite heroine, Anne Shirley! I promise you won't be disappointed!

"Chronicles of Avonlea" is a collection of short stories by L.M. Montgomery, "In which Anne Shirley of Green Gables and Avonlea plays some part, and which have to do with other personalities and events." First published in June of 1912 when Montgomery had published "Anne of Green Gables," "Anne of Avonlea," "Kilmeny of the Orchard," and "The Story Girl," it is my understanding that the author revised some of these stories to work in references to Anne and Avonlea, which would make them more palatable for her growing audience of readers.

This volume contains my favorite Montgomery short story, "Old Lady Lloyd," which is actually set in Spencervale. The title character is thought to be rich, mean and proud but is really only the last that is true. But then she hears of the plight of young Sylvia Gray and Margaret Lloyd finds there is something more important than her wicked pride. Montgomery does some nice twists with what is basically a fairy godmother story. "Old Lady Lloyd" also provided the basis for one of the first season episodes of the television series "Road to Avonlea," as did the comic romances "Aunt Olivia's Beau" and "The Quarantine at Alexander Abraham's" from this volume.

Although "Old Lady Lloyd" is a love story of sorts, many of the dozen stories found here are more traditional romances. "The Hurrying of Ludovic" is about Anne Shirley's plan to help the ironically named Ludovic Speed to hurry up and ask her friend TheodoraDix to be married. "The Winning of Lucinda" and "The Courting of Prissy Strong" follow suit as well, although with Montgomery's wry sense of humor coming into play. But another strong theme in these stories starting with "Old Lady Lloyd" is the love of music, which comes into play in both "Each in His Own Tongue" and "Little Joscelyn." "Old Man Shaw's Girl" fits into neither camp, but is one of the better stories here as well.

This collection was followed by a second, "Further Chronicles of Avonlea," and if you take these two, "The Story Girl" and its sequel "The Golden Road," then you have the four books that served as the basis of various episodes of "Road to Avonlea." But if you are a fan of Montgomery's writing then you already know that even in her novels she often worked in various short stories and might even have come to the conclusion that she was better at short stories than at novels. Still, for those who found seven Anne books to be far too few, this collection is the first place to turn to find her in other stories.

Perfect for sitting in front of the fireplace and reading. These stories are all about love-- with all its twists and turns. It'll make you laugh and cry. Each story takes you into a different world where you care about the characters and want their dreams to be fulfilled.

some of them are funny, some really romantic, some poignant, some all of these things together. i loved these stories, as anyone else will who loved Anne of Avonlea.

If you're already an 'Anne of Green Gables' fan, you'll love these short stories. Each one is unique and is about different residents of Avonlea and its' surrounds. Laugh out loud with some - they're every bit as entertaining as the 'Anne' books themselves.

Don't expect to find too much of 'Anne' herself in these stories though. She often gets a mention, but no more than that. These stories are about other residents in Avonlea and are great for giving extra depth and fullness to the novels about Anne. 12 tales in total - I loved them all!

I just figured that it'd be more of Anne and her capers. However, it was other little stories of people Anne had either brief encounters with or of people that she knew, but the stories were completely whole with or without the mention of her. They were fun short stories.

Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery was rightly famous for her "Anne of Green Gables" novels, but she was first a talented writer of short stories. "Chronicles of Avonlea" is an excellent collection of her tales of love and romance, set in and around the fictional village of Avonlea, Prince Edward Island.

The twelve stories offer a variety of plots centered around thwarted romances, lovers' quarrels, lonely parents, and surprising children. Montgomery's gifts as a writer, including her keen sense of humor and insight into human nature, are on display. Among the highlights: a man-hating woman and a woman-hating man who are forced to share a house under quarentine for smallpox; a lonely and pround old lady who finds that love has not quite died out of her life; a woman and her fiancee who have refused to talk to each other for 15 years; and a courting man with a case of the slows, who gets some motivation from none other than Anne Shirley herself.

No tale of Avonlea would be quite complete without Anne Shirley, who plays an active role in at least two of the stories. Montgomery cleverly works in references to Anne and to other characters from the Green Gables novels into these stories, which are set around the time of "Anne of Avonlea."

"Chronicles of Avonlea" is very highly recommended to fans of Lucy Maud Montgomery and of her Anne of Green Gables novels.

I loved this book as a child and really enjoyed it again as an adult. Received it very quickly at a low cost.

"Uniting Hearts on Prince Edward Island"

Published in 1912 this gentle book set in the Edwardian era remains a quiet treasure even a century later, for we discover the same foibles and curious choices of the human heart which are universal to mankind. Some of the twelve tales mention Anne Shirley or our "friends" from the Anne of Green Gables series, even though various PEI villages are featured. Many old love affairs are rekindled, thanks to the return to the island of one of the separated lovers. Orphans find homes; spinsters find husbands; an atheist finds God. Despite her sometimes quaint style and expressions, LMM depicts--in pastel hues of loving tenderness--the cycle of life during simpler times. She plumbs the depths of human interactions with exquisite skill and compassion. The Island Cure offers solace for the soul. This book is defintely for the young at heart of all ages.

Another one of Lucy Maud Montgomery's entertaining short-story books. Each story will have its twists and turns, and the author brings such amazing personality into each of the characters that you will not want the outcome to come in anyway that they, the characters themselves do not.