Product Description

To the small village of Lindsay on Prince Edward Island comes Eric Marshall, a twenty-four-year-old substitute schoolmaster. Dark and handsome, the son of a wealthy merchant, Eric has a bright future in the family business and has taken the two-month teaching post only as a favor to a friend.

Then fate, which has been more than generous to Eric, throws in his path a beautiful, mysterious girl named Kilmeny Gordon. With jet-black hair and the face of a Renaissance Madonna, Kilmeny immediately captures the young man's heart. But she is mute, cannot speak, and Eric is concerned for and bewitched by this shy, sensitive, blue-eyed girl.

For the first time in his life, Eric must work hard for something he wants badly. And there is nothing he wants more than for Kilmeny to return his love.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48465 in Books
• Published on: 1987-07-01
• Released on: 1987-07-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

Ingram
When Eric Marshall arrives on Prince Edward Island to become a substitute schoolmaster, he has a bright future in his wealthy family's business. But fate throws a beautiful, mysterious girl named Kilmeny Gordon into his path.

From the Publisher
A tender love story about a handsome young schoolteacher and a shy mute violinist, Kilmeny.

Customer Reviews

Ok, if a bit juvenile
Not a great book. Not an entirely BAD book, but nothing to go into the Halls of Fame. It reads like an extremely old-fashioned romance novel (which is what it IS, after all), and is simply loaded with cliches and stereotypes (the constant ethnic slurs are particularly offensive to modern readers). I first got hold of this book in a hardcover three-parter with The Story Girl and The Golden Road (which by the way are MUCH better books). When I was younger I thought it was the epitome of fine writing, and the most touching romance ever to be seen. Now it just comes across as eye-rollingly cliched...I mean, a beautiful innocent gifted mute girl, who needs to be Taught In The Ways Of Love by the young, handsome professor? Please. And a lot of the plot was based on just plain stupid superstition. It's a nice piece of fluff, but not fine literature...good for rainy weekends and car trips (not long ones though...as mentioned, it is rather short). Fortunately, it does carry the beautiful flowery descriptions that L. M. Montgomery is so well-known for, so it sails by on that.

A sweet and innocent love story
Kilmeny of the Orchard is a very sweet and endearing love story. It's very old-fashioned, and may seem a bit sappy to modern readers. If I remember correctly, this was L.M. Montgomery's second book, written after Anne of Green Gables, at a happy time of her life when she was newly married. I think this explains why the book is so sweet and lighthearted.

This is a very short book. At only 134 pages, it can easily be read in a single day. So don't pick it up to read over a week long vacation--it won't last that long! But perhaps it would be perfect for a single train or car trip. In fact, I believe this book was based on one of the author's previous short stories, which she spruced up to sell as a book. I gave it only 4 stars--even though I thought it was a lovely story, classic L.M. Montgomery--simply because it IS so short. The reader is not given a chance to get to know the characters very well at all, so in that way it presents a more superficial read than some of the author's other books.

I would still recommend Kilmeny of the Orchard though, to anyone young or old who thinks they would like a sentimental, old-fasioned love story. Truly, L.M. Montgomery wrote her books for a general audience. They were not marketed for children until later. Don't be afraid of reading her books if you are an adult--they are lovely and enjoyable books, remnants of a more innocent time.

Excellent but short
This book was really good, but if your looking for a few day read this isnt it.