Friday Reads: Kilmeny of the Orchard
Ok, I think I had better be right up front here. Â I love L.M. Montgomery as an author. Â I’m a diehard fan, I adore her books, and would own all of them if I could. Well, almost all of them. Kilmeny of the Orchard is the one exception. It’s Montgomery’s one big flop (literary wise, not sure about financial wise). Â I’m sure somewhere along the line someone, Montgomery, a publisher, someone must have noticed that it sucked. Â Apparently they said “Meh, who cares, we’ll publish it anyway.” These are the things that are wrong with Kilmeny of the Orchard: Racism, sexism, classism, disabilityism (OK, that isn’t even a real word, but you know what I mean), and my ultimate literary cliche pet peeve: the gorgeous girl who thinks she is ugly. Â There is also some low level, but still totally creepy, pseudo-pedophelia. Â And wanna-be incest. Â And some pretty old fashioned ideas about the worth of people born outside of marriage. And…well, you get the idea. OK, so basic plot: Â Eric Marshall (the pseudo-pedophile) is rich …