Chronicles of Avonlea is L.M. Montgomery’s fifth book, first published in June 1912 by Boston publisher L.C. Page and Company. It is the third of eleven books to feature Montgomery’s protagonist Anne Shirley Blythe, preceded by Anne of Green Gables (1908) and Anne of Avonlea (1909) and followed by Anne of the Island (1915), Anne’s House of Dreams (1917), Rainbow Valley (1919), Further Chronicles of Avonlea (1920), Rilla of Ingleside (1921), Anne of Windy Poplars (1936), Anne of Ingleside (1939), and The Blythes Are Quoted (2009). It was published between The Story Girl (1911) and its sequel, The Golden Road (1913).
Because Montgomery had no novel ready for 1912 due to her grandmother’s death in March 1911, her marriage to Ewan Macdonald in July 1911, her honeymoon in England and Scotland, and her move to Ontario in October 1911, her publisher persuaded her to rewrite some of her published short stories to include references to Anne and to the community of Avonlea, as a volume of linked short stories. Montgomery complied and sent him a few dozen stories, out of which her publisher selected the twelve that appear here. In the first edition, the title page identifies the book as Chronicles of Avonlea “in which Anne Shirley of Green Gables and Avonlea plays some part, and which have to do with other personalities and events, including The Hurrying of Ludovic, Old Lady Lloyd, The Training of Felix, Little Joscelyn, The Winning of Lucinda, Old Man Shaw’s Girl, Aunt Olivia’s Beau, The Quarantine at Alexander Abraham’s, Pa Sloane’s Purchase, The Courting of Prissy Strong, The Miracle at Carmody, and finally The End of a Quarrel.”
This book partly formed the basis for the popular television series Road to Avonlea (1990–1996), as did The Story Girl, The Golden Road, and Further Chronicles of Avonlea.
Epigraph
The unsung beauty hid
life’s common things below.
—Whittier.
Dedication
To the memory of
Mrs. William A. Houston,
a dear friend, who has gone beyond
Contents
I. The Hurrying of Ludovic
II. Old Lady Lloyd
III. Each in His Own Tongue
IV. Little Joscelyn
V. The Winning of Lucinda
VI. Old Man Shaw’s Girl
VII. Aunt Olivia’s Beau
VIII. The Quarantine at Alexander Abraham’s
IX. Pa Sloane’s Purchase
X. The Courting of Prissy Strong
XI. The Miracle at Carmody
XII. The End of a Quarrel
Reviews of Chronicles of Avonlea (41)
Boston Globe, 8 June 1912, 11 (“Book of Smiles and Tears”). The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 116–17.
Boston Herald, 8 June 1912, 4 (“Down East Idyls”). Scrapbook of Reviews, 37. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 117–18.
The Bookseller, Newsdealer and Stationer (New York), 15 June 1912, 527.
Boston Globe, 15 June 1912, 11 (“Sweet Little Anne Again”).
Times-Dispatch (Richmond, VA), 16 June 1912, 12.
Saint John (NB) Globe, 22 June 1912, 9. Scrapbook of Reviews, 35. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 118–19 (as “[An Intrinsic Worth of Their Own]”).
Springfield (MA) Sunday Republican, 23 June 1912, 31.
Christian Science Monitor (Boston), 24 June 1912, 2.
The Outlook (New York), 29 June 1912, 500. Children’s Literature Review, edited by Gerard J. Senick (Detroit: Gale, 1985), 8: 136 (excerpted). The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 119 (as “[Gently Sentimental and Enjoyably Humorous]”).
Lexington (KY) Herald, 30 June 1912, 3. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 119 (as “[Chronicles of Perfect Characters]”).
Oakland Tribune, 30 June 1912, 10.
San Francisco Call, 7 July 1912, Book Page (“Re-enter Anne of Avonlea”). Scrapbook of Reviews, 33. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 120–21.
Boston Journal, 9 July 1912, 7.
Boston Evening Transcript, 17 July 1912, 18. Scrapbook of Reviews, 34. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 121 (as “[Middle-Aged Love Stories of Unusual Type]”).
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 20 July 1912, 5. Scrapbook of Reviews, 33. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 121–22 (as “[Each Tale a Gem]”).
Christian Register (Boston), 8 August 1912, 763.
The Nation (New York), 22 August 1912, 171. Children’s Literature Review, edited by Gerard J. Senick (Detroit: Gale, 1985), 8: 136 (excerpted). The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 122–23 (as “[Romances of Middle Age]”).
The Publishers’ Weekly (New York), 21 September 1912, 814 (Mary Alden Hopkins).
Register (Adelaide, Australia), “Charming Stories.” 21 September 1912, 4. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 126–27.
Auckland Star (New Zealand), 21 September 1912, 14.
Newport (RI) Daily News, 28 August 1912, 3. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 123–24 (as “[Happy Sentiment]”).
The Canadian Magazine (Toronto), September 1912, 483–84. Scrapbook of Reviews, 41–42. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 124–25 (as “[Miss Montgomery’s Best Work]”).
Globe (Toronto), 7 September 1912, 18. Scrapbook of Reviews, 42. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 125–26 (as “[Thoroughly Delightful Sketches]”).
The Catholic World (New York), October 1912, 103. Scrapbook of Reviews, 40. Children’s Literature Review, edited by Gerard J. Senick (Detroit: Gale, 1985), 8: 136 (excerpted). The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 127 (as “[Clean, Sparkling Humor]”).
Dallas Morning News, 14 October 1912, 3.
The Scotsman (Edinburgh), 31 October 1912, 2. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 128 (as “[Leisurely Love-Making]”).
Times Literary Supplement (London), 31 October 1912, 482. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 128 (as “[Engaging ‘Heart-Interest Stories’]”).
ALA Booklist (Chicago), November 1912, 127.
The Chautauquan (Jamestown, NY), December 1912, 114.
The Bookman (London), Christmas Supplement 1912, 148. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 128–29 (as “[A Little Disappointed]”).
Boston Watchman, [ca. 1912]. Scrapbook of Reviews, 43. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 129 (as “[Delightful Summer Reading]”).
Kansas City Post, [ca. 1912]. Scrapbook of Reviews, 44. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 135–36 (as “[Plain Everyday Folk]”).
Louisville (KY) Post, [ca. 1912]. Scrapbook of Reviews, 32. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 136 (as “[Harmless and Easy Reading]”).
Republic (Boston), [ca. 1912]. Scrapbook of Reviews, 45. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 129–31 (as “[Chronicles of Autumn Flowers]”).
Rochester Herald, [ca. 1912]. Scrapbook of Reviews, 44. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 131 (as “[Stories of Real People]”).
Toronto News, [ca. 1912]. Scrapbook of Reviews, 34. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 131–32 (as “[Full of a True Human Nature]”).
Toronto World, [ca. 1912]. Scrapbook of Reviews, 42–43. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 132–33 (as “[The Concealment of Art]”).
The Christian Advocate (New York), 2 January 1913, 26.
Trenton (NJ) Times-Advertiser, 23 February 1913, Part 3, 2. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 134 (as “[Aroma of New England]”).
Eastern Western Review (Boston), [April 1913]. Scrapbook of Reviews, 60. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 134–35 (as “[The Simple Life of Homely People]”).
Independent (New York), 10 July 1913, 100. The L.M. Montgomery Reader, 3: 135 (as “[Whether or Not an Anne Book]”).
Published on 1 August 2008; last updated on 30 March 2024. Please contact the site owner with additions, corrections, questions, and suggestions.