Anne of Green Gables Series, Puzzled

[BookCat]

I was just looking at some Amazon freebies when I came across this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anne-Green-...e+kindle+books

Where it lists the contents, I noticed that several of the Anne books were written out of order, for example: Anne's House of Dreams was written in 1917 and covers Anne's ages 25-27, yet the novel which covers ages 22-25 was written in 1936.

And there are other chronological discrepances, such as there being no book covering ages 27-34, at least, not according to this kindle compilation.

There must be some really fascinating story about why the books were written in this way. If you know it, please tell!
Thanks.

[zelda.owns.link]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Green_Gables

This may help a little.

[BookCat]

Thanks, I dug a little deeper into that page and found more info about the books.
The series:

1 Anne of Green Gables 1908 11—16
2 Anne of Avonlea 1909 16—18
3 Anne of the Island 1915 18—22
4 Anne of Windy Poplars (US & Canada)
Anne of Windy Willows (Other) 1936 22—25
5 Anne's House of Dreams 1917 25—27
6 Anne of Ingleside 1939

It seems that Book 4 had a different name in the US and Canada to the name it was given elsewhere where it was feared the title was too similar to Wind in the Willows. According to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Windy_Poplars

"The novel features a series of letters Anne sends to her intended, Gilbert Blythe, who is completing medical school. Chronologically, this book is fourth in the series, but it was the seventh book written."

More info found:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Ingleside

"Anne of Ingleside is a children's novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. It was first published in July 1939 It is the tenth of eleven books that feature the character of Anne Shirley, and Montgomery's final published novel. (Two novels that occur later in the Anne chronology were actually published years earlier. As well, the short story collection The Blythes Are Quoted, written in 1941/42, but not published until 2009, concludes the Anne chronology.)" (Irrelevant info deleted by me.)

I'm curious as to why she wrote some of the books out of order. I suppose I'm used to modern authors like Rowling who publish parts of a series according to the chronology.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by BookCat

I'm curious as to why she wrote some of the books out of order. I suppose I'm used to modern authors like Rowling who publish parts of a series according to the chronology.

It's not at all uncommon - many authors "fill in the gaps" in a chronological series later on. Other examples that occur to me are the "Amelia Peabody" series by Elizabeth Peters, and the "Sharpe" series by Bernard Cornwell.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's not at all uncommon - many authors "fill in the gaps" in a chronological series later on. Other examples that occur to me are the "Amelia Peabody" series by Elizabeth Peters, and the "Sharpe" series by Bernard Cornwell.

If I recall correctly, the Hornblower series was also written out of order. The first book publish was actually the 6th book chronologically in the series.

[BookCat]

What possessed Forester to publish the 6th book first? I feel like a demanding child constantly asking why, but if I was considering writing a series I would begin with the first book. It's possible that having written something expected to be a stand-alone, prequels might then be thought of, but a sequel would be more likely. One would want to continue working with the characters, take them on other adventures, allow them to grow even more. Then, having done that, maybe consider their early years.

Thinking about it, I can see how a series could grow out of sequence. Think I've answered my own question, thanks for helping.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by BookCat

What possessed Forester to publish the 6th book first? I feel like a demanding child constantly asking why, but if I was considering writing a series I would begin with the first book. It's possible that having written something expected to be a stand-alone, prequels might then be thought of, but a sequel would be more likely. One would want to continue working with the characters, take them on other adventures, allow them to grow even more. Then, having done that, maybe consider their early years.

Thinking about it, I can see how a series could grow out of sequence. Think I've answered my own question, thanks for helping.

Yes, you have. For the most part, the Forester books are written more as stand alone, kind of like the James Bond novels by Ian Flemming. I believe that he started to add the earlier books as fans expressed interest in how Hornblower got to where he was. Forester, of course, didn't know that he would eventually write 5 books that occur prior to the events in the first Hornblower book.

[zelda.owns.link]

The Chronicles of Narnia were also written out of chronological order.