Anne’s Tragical Tea Party

Anne's Tragical Tea Party is the fourth installment in the Anne of Green Gables-inspired junior chapter book series, following Anne Arrives, Anne's Kindred Spirits, and Anne's School Days. When Anne's adopted mother, Marilla Cuthbert, attends a meeting one afternoon, Anne is given permission to ask her best friend Diana over for a tea party. However, Anne’s mistakenly providing Diana with currant wine instead of raspberry cordial results in a very sick Diana - and an uncomfortable Anne after she is berated by Marilla and Diana's mother. Banned from seeing each other, Anne and Diana exchange letters until, one day, Diana's little sister becomes ill and is subsequently saved by Anne, resulting in the happy restoration of their friendship.

Just as in the previous iterations of Anne's life in this series, it is not necessary to have read the original work or the other titles to appreciate the story. With a few scant words, the author cleverly sums up the overall story and the place of major characters within it, as in "Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert had adopted Anne in the last year, but already Anne had caused years' worth of trouble," or "She had never had a real tea party before. Or a real best friend. Now she couldn't imagine life without Diana." George does a remarkable job of capturing Montgomery's voice in a new iteration more accessible to today's young reader. And, as in all the titles in this series, Halpin’s illustrations, detailed and dynamic, bring the writing to life.