Against the Odds: Tales of AchievementThe common thread among the 18 stories in Against the Odds is the way people can resourcefully overcome obstacles to realize their ambitions and dreams. The “odds” are varied in these skillfully written tales. An obstacle to one’s success or happiness may lie in one’s own character or the prejudice of someone else. A potential employer may cast a suspicious eye on an individual’s background. A guardian seems reluctant to sponsor any further education for his charge. Other characters here are looking as much for increased self-respect as financial reward or better training. Set in locales as varied as Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Prince Edward Island, the stories of Against the Odds are peopled with orphans, teachers, actors, struggling single-parent families, intransigent relatives. It’s a world, though distant from our own, where Montgomery’s characters have problems similar to ours, and their methods of solving them are not very different from what we would try. |
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afternoon ain't Alphonso Arrow Creek asked Aunt Jennie Aunt Josephina Aunt Lucy Aunt Mary Baxter Bay Shore believe Bessie better Binns Bothwell boys Carleton Cecilia church Clifford Cropper dear Dimma dinner doll door Dorinda dress elderberry elders Ellis Esther everything eyes face farm father felt Fillmore Flower Band Frances gone Gordon Grandmother Newbury Gussie hand hard Harmer Indians Jimmy Nelson Joscelyn Kate knew L. M. Montgomery laughed Lilian lived looked Lucy Maud Montgomery Matilda Pitman Merle Miss Ashley Miss Octavia morning Mother Murray never night Old Dutcher Patty Peter Crow Phil picnic pond prairie Putney Putney church pyjamas Reefer Rod Allen Sara Beaumont sitting smile Spring Valley talked tell There's things thought Timothy Robinson told Tommy trail Uncle Abimelech Uncle Eugene wait walk Walters Willard woman