One of my blog’s followers (Patti of Wednesdays child) asked me to record this chapter and share it here. I recall that this title was a popular book, movie and TV show, but I wasn’t familiar with the story and characters at all. Patti said that her Mom gave it to her when she was a girl, and told her that she HAD to read it because Anne was just like her. She recalls that it was “the very first book that made me cry.” Since then, she read children’s stories for her local CBC radio station for about 10 years as a volunteer for a local literacy group. An excerpt from Anne of Green Gables was her first reading for them.

Thank you Patti for introducing me to this book. I had a great time becoming acquainted with Mrs. Rachel and Marilla.

I noticed that Mrs. Rachel symbolically and literally puts herself in the sunshine, while Marilla screens herself from it. Mrs. Rachel looks about to see what her neighbors are up to. She expresses her opinion, and spreads any news; while Marilla is reclusive, perhaps as a screen against feeling overwhelmingly influenced by others. However, both women are described as being excellent housekeepers, attentive to their environments, indoors and out, so they both apparently have ample light to see what’s important to them.

Anne of Green Gables, Chapter 1. Read by Grace Buchanan, for LibriVox.
This chapter was included in the LibriVox First Chapter Collection 6. It is the first track.

Read the entire book “Anne of Green Gables” at Project Gutenberg.

Listen to all the work that I’ve done for LibriVox.

This is a LibriVox recording. All LIbriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit: LibriVox.org.

Let me know if you would like me to record a short story, poem, or the first chapter of a book for you.

Image credit:
Illustration by Anonymous
Licensed under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND/3.0) License.