Such a Simple Little Tale: Critical Responses to L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables is a collection of essays edited and introduced by Mavis Reimer. It includes reprinted articles and book chapters by Temma F. Berg, Susan Drain, Carol Gay, Nancy Huse, Susan Jackson, Eve Kornfeld, T.D. MacLulich, Perry Nodelman, Catherine Ross, Mary Rubio, Marilyn Solt, Gillian Thomas, Janet Weiss-Townsend, and Muriel A. Whitaker. It was published jointly by the Children’s Literature Association and Scarecrow Press (located in Metuchen, NJ) as a hardcover in 1992, with a trade paperback edition following in 2003.
From the Dust Jacket
Here is a compilation of the best critical essays on this enduring classic. Selections focus on the many perspectives from which Anne of Green Gables is viewed. Is it children’s literature, or does it fit a different area of literary scholarship? Each of the articles breaks new ground in the literary criticism of Montgomery’s book. Also included is a comprehensive bibliographic guide to the research and criticism of Anne, from the earliest reviews to the most recent essays.
Contents
Acknowledgements (v–vi)
Introduction: The Anne-Girl and the Anne Book / Mavis Reimer (1–10)
“Queer Children”: L.M. Montgomery’s Heroines / Muriel A. Whitaker (11–22)
The Decline of Anne: Matron vs. Child / Gillian Thomas (23–28)
Progressive Utopia: Or, How to Grow Up Without Growing Up / Perry Nodelman (29–38)
Calling Back the Ghost of the Old-Time Heroine: Duncan, Montgomery, Atwood, Laurence, and Munro / Catherine Ross (39–55)
The Uses of Setting in Anne of Green Gables / Marilyn Solt (57–63)
Anne of Green Gables: The Architect of Adolescence / Mary Rubio (65–82)
L.M. Montgomery’s Portraits of the Artist: Realism, Idealism, and the Domestic Imagination / T.D. MacLulich (83–100)
“Kindred Spirits” All: Green Gables Revisited / Carol Gay (101–8)
Sexism Down on the Farm?: Anne of Green Gables / Janet Weiss-Townsend (109–17)
Community and the Individual in Anne of Green Gables: The Meaning of Belonging / Susan Drain (119–30)
Journeys of the Mother in the World of Green Gables / Nancy Huse (131–38)
The Female Bildungsroman in Nineteenth-Century America: Parameters of a Vision / Eve Kornfeld and Susan Jackson (139–52)
Anne of Green Gables: A Girl’s Reading / Temma F. Berg (153–64)
Suggestions for Further Reading: A Guide to the Research and Criticism on Anne of Green Gables (165–90)
Contributors (191–93)
Index (195–201)
Reviews
Reviews by Deborah Blenkhorn, Anne K. Philipps, and Paul Tiessen.
Metadata
Editor: Mavis Reimer
Paratexts: Introduction by Mavis Reimer
Publishers: Children’s Literature Association; Scarecrow Press (Metuchen, NJ)
Date: 1992
Format: Jacketed hardcover
Pagination: vi + 201
ISBN: 978-0-810825-60-4