Issybird I found the prejudices in the book jarring as well. I had no memory of the ‘stupid French’ comments. Marilla also commented about not wanting an Arab home boy from London - harsh attitude towards abandoned and exploited children. Montgomery was reflecting the very real prejudice that existed at the time however. That’s the first I’ve heard about muslin children among the relocated child migrants though - more to explore.
Bookpossum Yes, the treatment of the Acadians very brutal. Much of the fertile land in the Maritimes was taken by force from the Mi’kmaw First Nation, and later from Acadians, who had built dykes and reclaimed it from tidal flood plains.
Acadians and Cajuns have been holding reunions over the last few decades, exploring linkages and long lost connections. It’s quite interesting to see how each group has evolved separately, yet also retained so many sayings, dishes, etc.
The reason Acadians didn’t attend school with Anne was because the French Catholics and English Protestants had separate school boards. I was fortunate to have been one of three English children allowed to attend our local French school, which was a far better school. (Hence my terrible English spelling and grammar, and why I have to keep editing my posts to fix mistakes.
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Fantasyfan I hadn’t heard of the New Moon books as a child, so didn’t read them. But I did see a CBC series broadcast in the late 90’s and the characters were very engaging. Assuming the series was somewhat faithful to the books, the characters and plot did seem more fully developed.