by Sarah McCoy
First published 2019
Marilla Cuthbert is thirteen when her mother dies in childbirth. She must suddenly run Green Gables farm with her brother Matthew and father Hugh. In the farming town of Avonlea on Prince Edward Island, few paths exist for girls like her. Her aunt Elizabeth Johnson escaped to St. Catharines, where she built a successful seamstress business. Inspired by her aunt's independence, Marilla joins the Ladies Aid Society and helps fund an orphanage that secretly aids runaway slaves. She falls for John Blythe, the neighbor's charming son, but refuses to rush into marriage and another farm life. Her involvement in abolition work puts everything at risk, including her relationship with John. Marilla faces a choice between her dreams of changing the world and the quiet reality of Green Gables.
Genres: romance, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, social-justice
Setting: Avonlea, Green Gables, Prince Edward Island, St. Catharines
Period: 19th-Century
320 pages · Paperback · William Morrow Paperbacks