By The Bookwise

Movies always do it.  Produce prequels and sequels, that is.  There’s always part one and part two and part three, and…. Or, as with “Star Wars,” the newer movie went back in time. What about book classics? What about Anne of Green Gables?  To celebrate the centennial of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s 1908 original novel, Penguin commissioned Canadian author Budge Wilson to write the new book, Before Green Gables.The original book relates the fictional story of Anne Shirley, a bright, red-haired, 11-year-old girl after she was adopted from a Nova Scotia orphanage. This latest take goes back in time about Anne’s younger years.  What was she like while growing up?

The “real” Anne of Green Gables has become a true classic, with over 50 million copies translated into 20 languages. Montgomery wrote seven sequels and two related books, after her first novel became such a success.

The question is whether a classic can or should be followed up by another author at another time. Remember the debate in 1991 when Alexandra Ripley wrote Scarlett as a sequel to Gone with the Wind.  Then, in 2000, Alice Randall’s book The Wind Done Gone, which tells the story from the slaves’ point of view, created another splash. This time it was with copyright holders who filed an injunction to stop publication. It was settled out of court, and the book became a best seller. In 2007, another sequel was published, Rhett Butler’s People, from Rhett’s point of view. Does that leave anyone out? Yes, I could write the book as one of Scarlett’s other husbands or daughters.

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