Rilla of Ingleside - Lucy Maud Montgomery

[goodreads]

Title: Rilla of Ingleside
Author: L.M. Montgomery
Genre: Classic
Rating: 5/5
# pages: 277, Audiobook ~10hrs
Date read: Oct 2006, May 2011, June 2013, April 2023

PSA: Apparently, the Bantam edition of this is abridged - with some 4500 words having been left out from the original. The Gutenberg edition should be complete though.

Anne's children are almost grown up, except for pretty, high-spirited Rilla. No one can resist her bright hazel eyes and dazzling smile. Rilla, almost fifteen, can't think any further ahead than going to her very first dance at the Four Winds lighthouse and getting her first kiss from handsome Kenneth Ford.

But undreamed-of challenges await the irrepressible Rilla when the world of Ingleside becomes endangered by a far-off war. Her brothers go off to fight, and Rilla brings home an orphaned newborn in a soup tureen. She is swept into a drama that tests her courage and leaves her changed forever.


Again, not an "Anne"-book as such, as the focus is definitely on Rilla. Still, one can forgive LMM for that, as it's still mostly about Anne's children, and because it's such an excellent portrayal of life in rural Canada during WW1. Knowing that LMM went through much of this herself lends it a credence and authenticity I haven't found elsewhere.

It's been quite awhile since I last cried that much over a book - my husband got rather concerned at times! - but it's a beautiful and, despite its sadness, hopeful book. I do wish LMM had stuck to her guns and kept the original title though. I by far prefer Rilla-My-Rilla!