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8/22 c1 3WhatIsThis'Sleep'YouSpeakOf
What a sweet story! as other reviewers have already pointed out, it is a lovely mix of wistful and warm. So like the Anne world.
I especially love it because I can relate to it so deeply, missing my own mother while being an exhausted mother myself. Though not to quite so many children (ha ha!) but having them all day everyday without a break. And I really enjoyed that bit with Rachel, every little bit of it. Anne acknowledging that she has Susan to help her, that little sliver of "I have it easier than many others, but it's still so hard" guilt that so many of us have, was well done and I'm glad it was addressed. And then the idea that a younger Rachel would have found sanctuary in Marilla's kitchen is positively delightful! We know their friendship is long and this adds a perfect page to their history together. I love it!
8/15 c1 72kslchen
No wonder Anne is exhausted sometimes with six children! But for some glimpses at struggles in AoI, LMM likes to show her as this saintly, patient, always cheerful, all-around perfect mother figure, but that's just not realistic. She can love her children and sometimes feel exhausted by them at the same time and that's a very honest message. Giving us a look at the haven provided by Green Gables and Marilla also makes us appreciate what the the loss of it means for Anne. It's a place where she could recharge by briefly ceasing the mother duties and turning to the woman who was a mother figure to her more than anyone.

The characterisation of those two was very well-done, too. I enjoyed the little interlude of the plum puffs, giving them a shared experience of trying to master the plum puffs while an opinionated mother watched on. (It also sort of continues into another generation when with Rilla struggling to master cream puffs under Susan's guidance in RoI.) That was a lovely bit of shared humour. Your use of Alinya's book idea was also very fitting here, because yes, it's *so* Marilla, while not being Anne at all. I like that Anne kept it out of sentimentally while acknowledging that she didn't enjoy it, because that's also a very honest approach and one that many people can identify with, I think. Doesn't everyone have a gift of that kind stashed away somewhere?

I enjoyed how descriptive the writing was in this little story and it has some beautiful phrase, among them the spare room not feeling spare despite the name. That was lovely. The balance you struck here was very powerful, too, because it combines a sort of exhaustion and wistfulness felt by Anne with humour and a regained hopefulness at the end. As with most stories about Anne, it feels right to have it end with her laughing, and I think she really has a lot to laugh about, too. Sure, the children can be a lot and Marilla isn't with her anymore, but she has their shared time to look back on and to remember together with Gilbert. I liked that this was the conclusion she arrived at, even if Nan needs a few more years to understand it as well.
8/15 c1 42Tinalouise88
Tis simply lovely, and it resonates a lot that you never do know if it will be the last time, or if they'll be another.

Marilla was very much her mother in all ways, beyond not wanting the title itself and now Anne as a mother, it makes everything so much more real in many mays for her.

the reminder that those who are gone live in our heart is beautiful. Matthew, Joy, Marilla, her own parents who she doesn't remember most likely to a degree as well. They are all pearls, but being the superstitious person I am, they are all watching over her.
I do wonder if Anne might wonder or think when it comes down to that moment, if her parents and marilla will meet. The Shirleys to say thank you for taking her in, and for Marilla to thank them for having Anne and maybe even guiding her to the island.

Twas Lovely all the way around.
8/12 c1 MwithanE
Oh it was nice and sweet and sad and funny all at the same time, and in such a short story that is impressive. Kids are exhausting whether you have one, seven or seven, and you need a village, either to help with the kids or to pick you up.
Well done.
8/12 c1 25Mauryn
I swear, you are so talented. Yet again, we have another lovely fic from you.

I love the idea of Green Gables being a mother's rest stop. I can just see poor Rachel crashed on the parlor couch. Didn't she have ten or eleven kids?

lease do keep up the good work.
8/12 c1 16Alinyaalethia
This is just gorgeous. And there are some wonderfully funny moments, like the adults laughing at the poignant bits, and Jem declaring no one round ever talk that way. (Wonder how he gets on with memoirs and confessions, eh? Might suit him better!)

But there’s also a lovely wistfulness to this. You move us elegantly from Anne bring overwhelmed by her Blerediths to the Green Gables memory, where Rachel calls out the place as a haven...and now Anne and Avonlea mothers don’t have that Haven.

Then there’s that little nested narrative of the plum puffs and Anne seeing Marilla’s mum in Marilla, even as they laugh. Talking if next level characterisation, Matthew coming into the house as an afterthought was outstanding.

The costumes from blending houses gets a shout-out too. And the book. Well, as I said, it’s the most Marilla book to ever Marilla. Dense, dull and terrifyingly Calvinist in a vein that would send even loyal atheists off hymning the Virgin Mary, but very Marilla.

The ending is beautiful. I know you looked to the books for your inspiration about pearls around hearts but here you make it yours. And leaving Anne laughing -laughing not even at Nan but the hyperbole of youth and her own recent youth too -just perfect. What a lovely moment in time for her.
8/12 c1 7Nell Lime
What a lovely story! A wonderful job getting a glimpse into a moment of their lives.
8/12 c1 VirReturnsFromMinbar
Great story.
8/12 c1 Guest
At first I thought Anne was going through menopause, but then you mentioned Marilla's death. Either way her restlessness and grief makes sense. Nice little read and I love the quote you took the title from.
8/12 c1 6DrinkThemIn
I love it, and you, and I quite agree with alinya!
8/12 c1 28A Talking Cat
The book sounds interesting; I happen to like the writing style of that excerpt - make of THAT what you will!
The tense changes around a bit here, which is a bit odd. I also feel like the time setting isn't particularly clear.
Anyway, I loved the story, really enjoyed it, even though those things threw me for a loop a bit. Thanks for writing it! I really like the ending, so crisp and right!
8/11 c1 4OriginalMcFishie
Beautiful. A lovely reflective piece

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