A review by kateshark
A Tangled Web by L.M. Montgomery

4.0

A dated but wonderful book -- a friend and I attempted to adapt it as for the musical stage in college. The comedy and tragedy within a huge extended family comes to a head when the matriarchal figure, Aunt Becky, decides that she's lived long enough and plans to leave one of them a valuable heirloom (but who will it be?). As they all wrangle for her notice, their individual stories play out. There is love, betrayal, absurdity, offense, scandal, style, sweetness, craziness... everything you can think of is packed into this one. Some of the language has become offensive to the modern ear (the n-word is used with great emphasis as the punchline to one story), and reader's have to keep the author's context (white Scottish-Canadian society at the turn of the century) in mind. But overall the book succeeds because of Montgomery's trademark strength: subversive wit and excellently crafted characters.