There is only one person who tells the most enticing, warming, beautiful, and chilling stories than Sara Stanley, Story Girl. Story Girl fills everyone she encounters with awe. She could make you laugh and cry. She could make you feel compassionate and bitter. She can tell tales that will “freeze the blood in your veins”.
I cannot describe it. I might say it was clear; I might say it was sweet; I might say it was vibrant and far-reaching and bell-like; all this would be true, but it would give you no real idea of the peculiar quality which made the Story Girl’s voice what it was.
Once Bev King and his little brother Felix arrive to stay at the King orchard with his aunt and cousins they meet the Story Girl. She seems to have a mystical sense of the beauty of the world that no one else has. Soon she is telling them wild tales and they are merrily filling up the town with their fun. They meet a few other friends who join them on their misadventures and revelry.
There’s Peter Craig the hired boy with laughing eyes whom everybody loves. Bev’s cousins: Felicity the ever-proud and pretty and the modest and shy Cecily. Bev meets the other Sara, who seems to never find happiness and lives life in a gloomy shade that she wants to break free from but never can.
The friends grow up through the story, finding out who they want to be in the world while still getting into mishaps and hearing all the Story Girl’s fanciful tales.
There is no perfect autumn read than this one. Though the book starts in summer, it quickly fades to fall, filling you up to the brim with a comforting warmness that hugs you close. I had never heard of this book until a friend recommended it to me, and it is one of those books you will never forget.
Unlike L. M. Montgomery’s other book Anne of Green Gables, The Story Girl has a much more mature feel to it. The characters are older, about 14 and more, and it shows them changing and becoming themselves in their story on Prince Edward Island in Canada. Montgomery uses words to shape this story like never before, describing the feelings, people, and thoughts of Bev King, who is also the narrator. Truly another Montgomery masterpiece.
The world beyond the orchard was in a royal magnificence of coloring, under the vivid autumn sky. The big willow by the gate was a splendid golden dome, and the blood-red banners over the somber cone-bearers
Sounds perfect for this time of year! Love the review Cassandra!
Very good critique of Story Girl.’you have a unique way with words that make them alive & jump off the page you are writing. Keep up the excellent work! Will be following your progress through the coming years!
Grandpa Mike