Read this at the recommendation of one of my best friends (who I have a somewhat similar reading taste as in some ways) and honestly am not sure why I had never read it before! It makes me want to read everything else I haven’t read by L.M. Montgomery. I didn’t say this above, but Anne and the Green Gables is one of my favorite stories and even though this isn’t part of that world, I enjoyed this one quite a bit! Valancy is 29, still lives with her mother and an elderly cousin, is considered a homely old maid, and never speaks her mind. When she finds out something about her health, she decides to tell no one but to go out and live a real life. First she stays with the town drunk to take care of his ailing daughter and then proposes to the town’s other mystery man. I appreciated Valancy’s spirit and candor and her decision to speak her mind and do what she wants, society’s (and her family’s) judgement be damned!