Before Green Gables » (Reprint)

Budge Wilson was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is the acclaimed, award-winning author of twenty-nine books and was chosen by the heirs of L.M. Montgomery to write this prequel.

* Mp3 CD Format *. A must-read for generations of book lovers, this remarkable prequel to the classic Anne of Green Gables is the story of Anne Shirley's life before her arrival at Green Gables---a heartwarming tale of a precocious child whose lively imagination and relentless spirit help her to overcome difficult circumstances and of a young girl's ability to love, learn, and above all, dream.

The Barnes & Noble Review

I approached Before Green Gables with suspicion. Who would have the nerve to create a prequel to the classic Anne of Green Gables? There are readers -- those of us who found a "kindred spirit" in its freckled-faced, redheaded orphan heroine -- for whom the original is sacred territory. In Lucy Maud Montgomery's telling, "a poor orphan girl" in the Canadian Maritime provinces of the 1890s is mistakenly delivered into the care of Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, an aging brother and sister living on a farm in Prince Edward Island, Canada. It is Anne's large personality that drives an otherwise small-scale story forward: Anne feels deeply, acts impulsively, and seeks forgiveness dramatically. The trials of this resilient character, her sensitive nature, and her huge vocabulary gave heart to generations of readers. She lent hope to the socially awkward, to the unloved, and to those who are not traditionally beautiful.