Kilmeny of the Orchard by LM Montgomery
Genre: YA Classic
Blurb (on back of book):
A sweet and moving romance from the author of the beloved Anne of Green Gables series!
Eric Marshall, recent college graduate, has the world at his feet. He’s handsome, popular, wealthy, and surprisingly, single. Living the bachelor lifestyle with his widowed father, he’s never given much thought to romance. When an old school friend asks Eric to substitute teach for him on Prince Edward Island while he recuperates from an illness, Eric thinks, why not? He’s got some time to kill before diving into the family business with his father, and the rustic island may be a good diversion for him.
Eric falls into the easy routine of island life, and his status as eligible bachelor endears him to the locals. Eric is still not thinking of romance, but he’s about to find it in a most unexpected place…
Kilmeny Gordon is sweet and smart and beautiful, perfect in every way but one: she can’t speak. She’s been sheltered all her life due to her disability and the scandal surrounding her birth. She wiles away her hours helping her aunt and uncle on the farm and playing her violin in her favorite secluded spot. When Eric stumbles into her hidden orchard, he brings a whole new world with him, and a friendship that both frightens her and thrills her. As the summer days grow longer and their friendship blossoms, sweet, silent Kilmeny, with her sunny enthusiasm and haunting music, manages to do what neither the co-eds of Queenslea College nor the village lasses of Lindsay have been able to do—capture Eric’s heart.
But Kilmeny knows he’ll soon have to go back to his life on the mainland, a world of business meetings and parties and prejudicial people—a world in which she’ll hold him back and never fit in. None of that matters to Eric, but how can he get her to accept that she’s the only woman he’ll ever love, when she is convinced that the only way to love him is to let him go?
MY OPINION: ****
I remember reading this book a REALLY long time ago. It's very refreshing to read a shorter classic since I'm reading SO many right now (I don't know why, I've just really gotten into them lately). This book was definitely not LM Montgomery's best writing but it was a fun, cute read that's easy to read in a couple of days.
CHARACTERS
Eric Marshall. He is a man who is easily influenced by love though he claims to be above it all. Through this book, I think we can easily see character changes and maturation as a person. He falls for a girl who is not the ideal girl for him in society's eyes and he learns to ignore what people think and go with what his heart says.
Kilmeny Gordon. She's mute and is repeatedly considered "dumb" by the people around her. Her mother sinned before she was born and it's to this fact that her muteness is attributed. Only something incredibly moving can help her to speak. She thinks she's ugly and I think that she was a very innocent character who barely knew what love meant until she met Eric.
Neil Gordon. Well, what can I even say about him? I can't honestly say I empathized with him but to some degree, there was an understanding as to what possessed him to attempt what he did. And it's a good way to show that a bad deed can be a good deed for somebody else
as his deed helped Kilmeny to be able to speak.
ENDING
I thought it was a very nice ending to the book and gave readers a sense of closure. Eric and Kilmeny were so obviously meant for each other that you couldn't deny their chemistry.
I would recommend to readers looking for a short classic romance.
Main Character: Eric, Kilmeny
Sidekick(s): David, parents, Gordons, Williamsons, etc
Villain(s): Neil, etc
Classic Elements: A beautiful classic from a time long ago.
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