The Maiden's Court: Audiobook Review: Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery & Giveaway

Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery
Book 2 of Anne of Green Gables series
Unabridged; 9 hr. 5 min.
Post Hypnotic Press Inc.
Colleen Winton (narrator)
June 9, 2014
★★★★☆

Genre: Classic; Historical Fiction

Source: Received download from publisher for review as part of Audiobookworm Tour

Following Anne of Green Gables (1908), this book covers the second chapter in the life of Anne Shirley. We learn of Anne's doings from the age of 16 to 18, during the two years that she teaches at Avonlea school. It includes many of the characters from Anne of Green Gables, as well as new ones: Mr. Harrison and his foul-mouthed parrot, Miss Lavendar Lewis, Paul Irving, and the twins Dora (sweet and well behaved) and Davy (mischievious and in constant trouble). Anne matures, slightly, but she gets into a number of her familiar pickles, as only Anne can: She accidentally sells her neighbor's cow (having mistaken it for her own), gets stuck in a broken duck house roof while peeping into a pantry window, and more.

Anne of Avonlea picks up roughly where we left off with her in Green Gables, but it has a slightly different feel to it. Anne is a little older and has matured some since we first met her in her origin book. Of course she wouldn’t be Anne if she didn’t still meet with some accident or another from time to time, but the setting in which it occurs and how she comes out of the event are different. She isn’t the child who runs around in a dream world and talks in endless, run-on sentences. She still has flights of fancy, but she is more aware of the world around her and how she moves within it. She has a passion for fighting for what is right and for those less fortunate. She is a teacher! Anne finds a true “kindred spirit” in Miss Lavendar and it is during those scenes that we get more of that old Anne coming through. Without Anne to cause all the drama we have Davy, one of the twins that Anne helps to raise, and honestly he might stir the pot more than even she did as a child! Having lost a male role model whom she loved dearly, Anne makes a connection with the new neighbor Mr. Harrison, who takes to Anne like no one else. I found their scenes almost soothing. Anne of Avonlea is Anne’s transition novel – it is the time between a being a child in a small town and going away to college. You still have some of the old Anne, but you can see changes happening and know that when she goes away more will be yet to come.

One stylistic difference that I noticed in this novel that I didn’t in the first (maybe it was there and I just didn’t pick up on it, but it is a thing I do tend to notice), is that the author breaks the fourth was SEVERAL times. It’s not only that she refers the reader back to events that transpired in the first book, but she will say things to the effect of (and I’m paraphrasing here): “reader, you might recognize that…” or “if you are unfamiliar with these events, do pick up the book where it all started”. It almost feels a tad self-promotional rather than the trick of taking the audience aside to let them in on some special information, and I didn’t really think it was necessary to the story.

★★★★★

As this is the same narrator and the same series, my thoughts are essentially the same as in book 1, with a couple additional notes. Colleen Winton knocked her narration out of the park just as I expected and hoped! Her voices for the characters that appears in this book which were introduced previously are consistent with the prior treatment. There are a small handful of new characters and each is unique and quirky in their own way. As before, the most important is Anne, and while she is still prone to her flights of fancy, Winton brings and more measured and mature style of her manner of speaking. The narration between dialogue has an even pace that brings the listener back from the slow or quick speech patterns of the characters, which is like a cleansing of the palate before moving on. I know that Winton narrates the next book in the series, and I don’t think Post Hypnotic Press has released any more than the first three books, but I would be happy to listen to her any day.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

Buy the Book: Audible | Post Hypnotic Press

You can check out a sample from Anne of Avonlea below.

Also by L.M. Montgomery:

Anne of Green Gables (Book 1)
[My Review]

Anne of the Island (Book 3)

Anne of Windy Poplars (Book 4)

Anne’s House of Dreams (Book 5)

Anne of Ingleside (Book 6)

Rainbow Valley (Book 7)

Rilla of Ingleside (Book 8)

Tour-Wide Giveaway!

As part of the tour, there is a tour-wide giveaway sponsored by the publisher, Post Hypnotic Press, for store credit: $120 (Grand Prize), $90 (Runner-up) & $60 (2nd Runner-up). Entries are made via the Gleam app and can be made on any of the participating tour pages. Please if you have questions, contact the tour coordinator as I have no input in the giveaway. Good luck!!

Anne of Green Gables Giveaway: Three Winners

Tour Schedule

Audiobookworm Promotions

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, BOOK 1

Jul. 30th:
History From A Woman's Perspective (Review)
The Book Slayer (Review)
Spunky 'N Sassy (Review)

Jul. 31st:
CGB Blog Tours (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
A Book and A Latte (Review)
Canadian Book Addict (Review, Giveaway)
Tara's Book Addiction (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

Aug. 1st:
The Maiden's Court (Review)
Book Reviews By Jasmine (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
Lilly's Book World (Review)

Aug. 2nd:
2 Girls and A Book (Review, Teasers)
Macarons and Paperbacks (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
Bound 4 Escape (Review, Giveaway)
WTF Are You Reading? (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

Aug. 3rd:
To Read Or Not To Read (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)
Jorie Loves A Story (Review)
Notes From 'Round the Bend (Teasers, Giveaway)
Haddie's Haven (Review, Teasers, Giveaway)
Hall Ways (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)

Aug. 4th:
Lomeraniel (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)
Joy of Bookworms (Review)
SMADA's Book Smack (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

Aug. 5th:
Buried Under Books (Review)
Life As Freya (Review)

ANNE OF AVONLEA, BOOK 2

Aug. 6th:
History From A Woman's Perspective (Review)
Spunky 'N Sassy (Review)

Aug. 7th:
The Book Slayer (Review)
A Book and A Latte (Review)
Tara's Book Addiction (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

Aug. 8th:
CGB Blog Tours (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
2 Girls and A Book (Review, Teasers)
Lilly's Book World (Review)

Aug. 9th:
The Maiden's Court (Review)
Macarons and Paperbacks (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
Canadian Book Addict (Review, Giveaway)

Aug. 10th:
Jorie Loves A Story (Review)
Notes From 'Round the Bend (Teasers, Giveaway)
Dab of Darkness (Review, Giveaway)
Haddie's Haven (Review, Teasers, Giveaway)

Aug. 11th:
To Read Or Not To Read (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)
Joy of Bookworms (Review)
Hall Ways (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)
Bound 4 Escape (Review, Giveaway)

Aug. 12th:
Lomeraniel (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)
Forever Literary (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)
Life As Freya (Review)
WTF Are You Reading? (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

ANNE OF THE ISLAND, BOOK 3

Aug. 13th:
History From A Woman's Perspective (Review)
Spunky 'N Sassy (Review)

Aug. 14th:
A Lovelorn Virgo (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)
2 Girls and A Book (Review, Teasers)
Tara's Book Addiction (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

Aug. 15th:
Dab of Darkness (Review, Giveaway)
Joy of Bookworms (Review)
Canadian Book Addict (Review, Giveaway)

Aug. 16th:
CGB Blog Tours (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
A Book and A Latte (Review)
Macarons and Paperbacks (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
Lilly's Book World (Review)

Aug. 17th:
To Read Or Not To Read (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)
Jorie Loves A Story (Review)
Reading for the Stars and Moon (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)
Notes From 'Round the Bend (Teasers, Giveaway)
Haddie's Haven (Review, Teasers, Giveaway)

Aug. 18th:
The Maiden's Court (Review)
The Book Slayer (Review)
Jorie Loves A Story (Interview)
Hall Ways (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)

Aug. 19th:
Christian Chick's Thoughts (Review)
Lomeraniel (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Teasers, Giveaway)
Life As Freya (Review)
Bound 4 Escape (Review, Giveaway)
WTF Are You Reading? (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)