First Line Friday 22.7 Featuring: Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy

It’s the first Friday of June, and time to link up for First Line Friday! First Line Friday is a weekly linkup hosted at Reading Is My Superpower. To participate, share the first line of a book of your choice, add the link to the linkup on the host’s page, and check out what others are reading and sharing!

My First Line:

It’d been a rain-chilled May that felt more winter than spring.

About the Book

Title: Marilla of Green Gables

Author: Sarah McCoy

Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis: Plucky and ambitious, Marilla Cuthbert is thirteen years old when her world is turned upside down. Her beloved mother dies in childbirth, and Marilla suddenly must bear the responsibilities of a farm wife: cooking, sewing, keeping house, and overseeing the day-to-day life of Green Gables with her brother, Matthew and father, Hugh.

In Avonlea—a small, tight-knit farming town on a remote island—life holds few options for farm girls. Her one connection to the wider world is Aunt Elizabeth “Izzy” Johnson, her mother’s sister, who managed to escape from Avonlea to the bustling city of St. Catharines. An opinionated spinster, Aunt Izzy’s talent as a seamstress has allowed her to build a thriving business and make her own way in the world.

Emboldened by her aunt, Marilla dares to venture beyond the safety of Green Gables and discovers new friends and new opportunities. Joining the Ladies Aid Society, she raises funds for an orphanage run by the Sisters of Charity in nearby Nova Scotia that secretly serves as a way station for runaway slaves from America. Her budding romance with John Blythe, the charming son of a neighbor, offers her a possibility of future happiness—Marilla is in no rush to trade one farm life for another. She soon finds herself caught up in the dangerous work of politics, and abolition—jeopardizing all she cherishes, including her bond with her dearest John Blythe. Now Marilla must face a reckoning between her dreams of making a difference in the wider world and the small-town reality of life at Green Gables.

It’s been at least a few years since I read a book set in Anne’s world. Even though Marilla of Green Gables is not by L.M. Montgomery, I’m looking forward to stepping back into that setting and learning more about the characters.

What are you reading this weekend? Stop by Reading Is My Superpower to see more featured books and first lines!

Until the next chapter,

Jana