Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea

[ailbhe]

Wait - all those maids and hired hands described as French are actually black, aren't they?

I think I preferred the books before I realised that.

Comments

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

I re-read them recently too and came to a conclusion that like most blatantly rubbish excuses* of the time, "too busy" is probably something medical (poss. mental health related) and/or reproductive, like caring for an ill relative, depression, or the menopause - things that make the mothers "less" than their usual sparkling socialite selves and therefore embarrassed to be seen by their future sparkling socialite daughters in case they get the message that women of their class can get by for a while without wearing makeup, silk stockings and a perfect hairdo and twinkling around the place all day. That's a bit of a guess though.

*there is a better word for this but I am too dizzy to remember it