Two Novels

I have recently finished reading two novels by two female Canadian writers, Rilla of Ingleside by Lucy Maud Montgomery and Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald. Both novels are set on eastern Canadian islands off Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton Island, respectively; both span World War I; both have female characters as their heroines. Other than that, there is little similarity between the two. In fact, one is a children's classic, the other, on the contrary, should and would only be appreciated by adults. The only link that made me want to talk about them together was that they both moved me into tears for family bond and love.

Rilla of Ingleside is the 8th book of the Anne of Green Gables series. H introduced me to this children's classic more than three and a half years ago, and it had been an easy and happy bedtime read until the last book when the dreadful and depressing and seemingly never-ending WWI brought back life losses and extreme sadness to the beautiful Prince Edward Island. I have grown to love the high-spirited orphan Anne, her life, and her children, and it was especially hard for me to read the last letter from Walter to Rilla without tears running down my face on a peaceful sunny Christmas Day aboard a Chinatown bus. Walter was Anne's boy who was sentimental and poetic. He had to overcome his fear of pain and disgust of senseless killings in a war to enlist to fight for his country. Before his regiment went over the top to take over Courcelette he wrote to his beloved little sister, "It is the fate of mankind. That is what we are fighting for. And we shall win -- never for a moment doubt that, Rilla. For it isn't only the living who are fighting -- the dead are fighting, too. Such an army cannot be defeated."

As the last book in the children's classic literature series, Rilla of Ingleside shows young readers the ugliness, cruelty and dark reality of wars, and the importance of hope and faith in believing the goodness in mankind. This is a book in sharp contrast to the first 7 books where children grew up in peaceful times and everyday issues seem to be the most important to worry about. I love this book because it reminds us, and the young readers, that life is not always beautiful. Sometimes we have to fight the evil to earn our freedom.

If Walter Blythe and his brothers and friends enlisted to fight for their country, James Piper of Fall on Your Knees enlisted for a completely different reason. The latter book is complicated, dark, intriguing, cruel at times, yet beautifully written. I love the Piper sisters, too, each one of them in different ways, especially the three younger ones. I felt I understood them better. For the oldest sister Kathleen, I still find her transformation (or realization) in New York City too sudden and too shocking. But nevertheless this is one of the best books I have read in years. While I would encourage a 12-year-old to read Rilla of Ingleside, I will make sure she waits a few years to read Fall on Your Knees.


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ps, when I returned the book RoI to H, she congratulated me, "now you've caught up with every girl in North America!"

pps, three years ago when waiting for my delayed red-eye flight (due to torrential rain) in LA airport, a fellow passenger saw I was reading Anne of Avonlea and she started chatting with me. She was about 22 or 23. She said she found the third book Anne of the Island very romantic. I sure found that out in due time. Yes, it is really romantic when you realize who your true love is!

ppps, I saw the Spanish movie Volver last weekend. It somehow reminded me of Fall on Your Knees.