Acquired Digital Audiobook by: I am a new blog tour hostess with Audiobookworm Promotions wherein I have the opportunity to receive audiobooks for review or adoption (reviews outside of organised blog tours) and host guest features on behalf of authors and narrators alike. When I saw the blog tour for ‘Anne of Green Gables’ I was wicked excited – as I have been wanting to re-read the series for a bit over a year and a half when I first saw a collection of the paperbacks at a thrift store! Mum surprised me with them but for the life of me, I never felt it was the ‘right time’ to read Anne. Seeing the blog tour was featuring the narrations by Post Hypnotic Press – the same publisher of the Betty MacDonald memoirs, I knew I wanted to take part as I love their quality and dedication to how audiobooks are produced!

I received a complimentary audiobook copy of “Anne of the Island” via the publisher Post Hypnotic Press (of whom was working directly Audiobookworm Promotions) in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Where we left Anne:

The storm had just passed – the hail storm to end all hail storms – where all the fields and flowers were cut down by the fierceness of the tempest which had destroyed all the lovely crops Avonlea could have yielded. Never one to give up the community of Avonlea pulled together – re-planting and hoping for a harvest, even if it would come in a bit later than normal.

An unexpected stranger arrived much to the shock of Anne – who had helped spread a silly rumour – where her neighbour was meant to marry; only the egg was spoilt on Anne, as he was already wed! The stranger turnt out to be his wife – which was quite comical as Anne never would have suspected the quirky eccentric man could be married but then, she never gave him proper time to explain himself!

I loved how Mr Harrison & Anne took a private conversation – where he lent her the story of his marriage and even offered a rather kind observation in regards to how Anne’s facial expressions lent themselves a portal of insight into the young woman’s emotional state which bartered the observer to understand the lay of her thoughts before she ever spoke a word aloud!

Ms Lavender’s story-line is pulled together and has such a lovely conclusion – you simply feel a contended sigh and find an erstwhile smile gracing your lips. She had such a romantic life – not just in seeing the positive and the beauty surrounding her small cottage hugged into the foils of nature but how she kept a cheerfulness about herself even when self-doubts tried to supersede her own internal wisdom.

Charlotta the 4th had a true blue admiration of Anne – to where she tried to emulate her and become more of her liking even though she sadly realised she had to be her own person – even if she drew true courage and inspiration from Anne. Diana became engaged much to the shocked surprise of Anne – of whom regretted she hadn’t noticed the change in her friend sooner than she had.

Between my listenings of books two and three of this series, I sought out the latest adaptation: “Anne with an E”

I must freely admit, after listening to the first two stories in this lovely series – a series which is anchoured lovingly between my childhood and adult years of appreciation – I craved more of Avonlea and of Anne! I wasn’t entirely sure if I should dare to watch Anne with an E – as a trusted friend mentioned to me recently about how the series is set a bit darker in shade than previous adaptations, but where one ponders the willingness of our mind to accept new variants of our beloved Classics, one must endeavour to ‘try’ the newness of an adaptation even if we recoil from what we find therein.

Happily, I must confess – I was quite chuffed by what I found rather than any thoughts of the contrary by which I had first felt would be my truer hesitation to find myself able to enjoy this new NetFlix series! As I had mentioned previously – I hadn’t quite realised how hard life was for Anne and seeing this new adaptation put truth and purpose into highlighting those moments of Anne’s life as they thread back into her mind’s eye as she tries to give Green Gables a chance at being the ‘home’ she never knew – I found myself enraptured. I truly appreciated the grit of those flashbacks as they were quite penned by Ms Montgomery herself – even though she held back the curtain on their truths just a smidge whereas this adaptation pulls the curtain aside and gives you a glimmer of knowledge of how hard Anne’s life truly was in all honesty.

I only watched two episodes – but already, I could sense, this was a new Avonlea and a new insight into Anne I would appreciate – as my memories of Anne have moved in and round my listenings of her story this August, so too, I saw has my heart grown to accept there is room enough for this new variant to find a niche of a place to reside in my spirit, as the first adaptation was fitting for a young girl and this new one, is an equal match for an adult who is re-visiting her youth and finding a new breath of joy in keeping in step with Anne!

Anne of of the Island

Anne of the Island was published in 1915, seven years after the best-selling Anne of Green Gables, partly because of the continuing clamor for more Anne from her fans - a fan base that continues to grow today!

In this continuation of the story of Anne Shirley, Anne leaves Green Gables and her work as a teacher in Avonlea to pursue her original dream (which she gave up in Anne of Green Gables) of taking further education at Redmond College in Nova Scotia. Gilbert Blythe and Charlie Sloane enroll as well, as does Anne's friend from Queen's Academy, Priscilla Grant.

During her first week of school, Anne befriends Philippa Gordon, a beautiful girl whose frivolous ways charm her. Philippa (Phil for short) also happens to be from Anne's birthplace of Bolingbroke, Nova Scotia. Anne, always the good scholar, studies hard, but she also has many life lessons. This book sees Anne leave behind girlhood to blossom into a mature young woman.

Places to find the book:

ISBN: 978-1-927817-12-4

on 2014

Length: 8 Hours, 15 Minutes (Unabridged)

Published By: Post Hypnotic Press (@Post_Hypnotic)

The Anne of Green Gables series by Post Hypnotic Press:

The publisher is considering adapting the rest of the series and is looking for feedback on behalf of these adaptations by both the bloggers who are listening to them for the blog tour and the readers who are finding them along the tour route itself – to gauge if the rest of the series would have a readership who would appreciate hearing them. I, for one, am hoping they do produce the rest of the series as these adaptions are great addition for all of us who grew up knowing Anne.

Likewise, if you haven’t yet seen the publisher’s announcement about how their offering a coupon this month on their audiobook catalogue, I encourage you to visit my review of Anne of Green Gables (linked below this review) where I first found out this lovely news myself!

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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• 2017 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge