The Materializing of Duncan McTavish

Anne Hutchings is a public-school teacher and librarian in Ajax,
Ontario.

“Road to Avonlea,” perhaps the most highly acclaimed series in
Canadian television history, has attracted a wide audience both at home
and abroad. These books are based on episodes from the series.

Sara Stanley, the heroine of the stories, is young, romantic and
impulsive. In Song of the Night, she becomes intrigued with the
reclusive spinster Miss Margaret Lloyd (a.k.a. “Old Lady Lloyd”) and
her mysterious connection to Avonlea visitor Sylvia Grey, a gifted
singer and long-time friend of Sara’s aunt. Unable to contain her
curiosity and resist interfering, Sara eventually unravels the mystery
and brings about a predictable and satisfying “happily-ever-after”
ending.

The Materializing of Duncan McTavish finds Sara at the ladies’ sewing
circle, more intent on listening to the gossip that is an integral part
of such gatherings than on her sewing. Noting that Marilla Cuthbert
seems lonely and left out of the conversation, Sara attempts to include
her by asking, “Did you ever have a beau, Miss Cuthbert?” Marilla,
fed up with her “old-maid-who-never-had-a-boyfriend” status, quickly
concocts a long-ago suitor named Duncan McTavish, much to the amazement
(and, in Rachel Lynde’s case, disbelief) of the audience. Later, no
one is more shocked than Marilla herself when the real Duncan McTavish
arrives in Avonlea. How Marilla manages to extricate herself from this
predicament with her reputation intact, despite Sara’s well-meaning
interference, provides the conclusion to the story.

These relatively short novels will appeal mostly to the young fans who
make “Road To Avonlea” part of their Sunday-evening television
viewing. The inclusion of the black-and-white pictures from the programs
will be an added bonus. For the parents who complained about “Road To
Avonlea” being pre-empted by the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring,
these storybook versions provide the perfect alternative. One would
hope, however, that as a result of reading these versions, both young
and not-so-young fans would be motivated to search out and read (or
reread) the original Lucy Maud Montgomery stories.

Recommended.