Review: Mable Riley - Marthe Jocelyn

Synopsis: Mable Riley dreams of having adventures and of becoming a writer. When she travels far from home to act as assistant to her sister, a schoolmistress, Mable hopes her new world will be full of peril and romance. Her new life, however, is as humdrum as the one she'd left behind.

Then Mable encounters the eccentric Mrs. Rattle - a real writer who wears daring fashions and takes delight in scaring off the townfolk by stating her opinions. Mable eagerly accepts Mrs. Rattle's invitation to a meeting of the Ladies Reading Society. But the ladies are not discussing books at all, and Mable soon has more peril and romance than she'd bargained for.

Review: Criticisms first: the book begins very abruptly, it takes place in Canada, and there is no solid storyline. Not until you get a little further in, that is. And that is when the pros begin. Yes, it takes place in Canada, but so does Anne of Green Gables, and like that classic, I was able to ignore the general "dullness" Canada-based stories immediately have, because like Anne, Mable Riley is an engaging character, full of wit and innocent, though unrealistic, romantic thoughts of the world and adventure. She makes Canada not seem so dull.

While the majority of this book is a "lifetime story," - one which has no solid storyline, but merely follows the occurrences in someone's life - a plotline begins to develop when Mable meets Mrs. Rattle (who, by the way, is an equally wonderful and eccentric character). The book does not end with a resounding THE END, but rather takes the approach of a real-life journal: not everything is resolved, because in people's lives, things rarely are.

Mable Riley is an entertaining, "homey" tale that should be housed right by Anne of Green Gables - and read by one's children right along with the latter.

Overall Rating: JJJ