"Marigold" is six-year-old Marigold Lesley, who lives with her young widowed mother, Lorraine, her "Young Grandmother" and "Old Grandmother" at the Lesley family home, Cloud of Spruce (a Montgomery-esque name if I ever heard one!), on Prince Edward Island.
Many elements of this story will be familiar to fans of Montgomery's other novels: beautiful descriptions of nature; witty dialogue and a sharp sense of humour; absent/dead parents; large, judgmental extended families headed by domineering women; imaginary friends; beloved cats; faithful family servants...
But -- I'll admit I (still, upon second reading) just don't find Marigold as "int'resting" (one of her favourite phrases) as many of Montgomery's other heroines. Perhaps because she's a child? (She's 12 by the time the book ends.) There's not a lot going on, plot-wise, but there are some funny stories about Marigold's youthful scrapes and mishaps. There are also some wince-inducing episodes as Marigold navigates childhood and her "tween" years (facing fears, the cruelty of other girls, the adults who just don't understand...).
Content warning: Some dated attitudes and language here (regarding French-Canadians, for example). Also -- and I forgot to mention this in my previous review -- there's an episode concerning Marigold's terrifying encounter with a woman who has "not been in her right mind" since the death of her young daughter/only child a year ago (ugh!!).
My initial rating of 3.5 stars on StoryGraph, rounded down to 3 stars on Goodreads, remains unchanged.
(Next Readathon book TBA.)
This was Book #27 read to date in 2024 (and Book #3 finished in September), bringing me to 60% of my 2024 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 6 (!) books behind schedule to meet my goal. :( You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2024 tagged as "2024 books."
No comments:
Post a Comment