L.M. Montgomery usual milieu was the young-girl-grows-up-story, but she occasionally crafted a story aimed toward the more adult end of the spectrum. The Blue Castle, for one, which is a wonderful story.

A Tangled Web is another. First published in 1931, it follows a large cast of characters, all belonging the extended Dark and Penhallow clans as they speculate on who will inherit the "old Dark jug" from dying Aunt Emily.

We particularly pursue half dozen or so of the family members, all of whom seek and find love or companionship in a variety of amusing ways. We have young lovers, estranged lovers, confirmed bachelors, lonely old maids, lonely children - the usual cast.

It's a different kind of book for Lucy Maud, one that regularly flits between people and perspectives, following various threads over the course of several months or so. As is usual for Montgomery, the tone is usually sentimental and comic, and is usually successful in eliciting smiles and laughs.

I had believed that I had already read all of Montgomery's novels, so it was an agreeable surprise to find one I hadn't. While no classic, I had a good time reading it.

I'm sad to say that I was very disappointed in this book. I could tell that it was meant to be a romantic comedy, but it really lacked. There were literally more than 50 characters in this book, and you had to follow more than 10 of the characters through their struggles of love and fighting over a plain jug. You never really get attached to any of the characters because there were too many to keep track of. If you plan on reading it anyways, keep track of everybody's name. Believe me, it will be helpful. I'm leaving my index card full of names and who they are in the book when I return it to the library (I know my library doesn't go through each book before returning it to the shelf).

a fali czytania powieści Montgomery sięgnęłam po tę, dotąd mi nieznaną, książkę. Przyznać muszę jednak, że była to lektura nad wyraz męcząca i długa. Montgomery nie udało się wyjść ponad sentymentalny schemat, a przyjemności z czytania nie przysłużyła się tytułowa plątanina charakterów, postaci i imion.

Ciotka Becky to seniorka dwóch rodów, które od wielu lat praktykują lżejszą wersję kazirodztwa. Na słynnych podwieczorkach u ciotki spotykają się wszyscy przedstawiciele powiązanych ze sobą ściśle rodów, co jest świetną okazją do wyśmiewania ich przywar, do plotkowania i obserwowania kto, z kim i co. Ciotka Becky szykuje się jednak do umierania i wzywa ród po raz ostatni, by zdecydować komu przekaże słynny dzban - rodzinną pamiątkę. Ciekawość, zawiść i chciwość pędzą wszystkich krewnych na to mało ciekawe i przyjemne spotkanie.

Ciąg dalszy: http://przeczytalamksiazke.blogspot.c...

Pulls the reader in from the first page - who will receive Aunt Becky's coveted jug? Love and spats follow the Penhallow and Dark clans as they try to be on their best behavior in order to be awarded this coveted family heirloom.