War comes to Green Gables...at least to it's people, if not directly to it's land...

Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery

Oooohhhh...I will so miss reading about Anne and Gilbert, and their children,  and all the other wonderfully imaginable characters in their lives! I am ever-so-grateful to Reeder Reads for initiating this read-along. I might have never actually stopped and read them except for this project! See my reviews of the previous books in the series here.

Susan states, "I never take much interest in foreign parts. Who is this Archduke man who has been murdered?"

  "What does it matter to us?" asked Miss Cornelia, unaware of the hideous answer to her question which destiny was even then preparing. "Somebody is always murdering or being murdered in those Balkan States. It's their normal condition and I don't really think that our papers ought to print such shocking things....Merciful goodness, Anne dearie, what is the matter with that cat? Is he having a fit?"--this, as Doc suddenly bounded to the rug at Miss Cornelia's feet, laid back his ears, swore at her, and then disappeared with one fierce leap through the window."

  "Oh, no. He's merely turning into Mr. Hyde--which means that we shall have rain or high wind before morning. Doc is as good as a barometer." (11)

So World War I is just around the corner...the first truly deadly war in the world's history as far as firearms, etc. And there is loss among the local folks over time. (Fortunately, I always have Kleenex--Puffs with lotion actually--by my chair when reading!) :)

One day this superb feline barometer substitute had his head stuck in a salmon can and rampaged through the kitchen breaking dishes, etc. I could relate to this so well. I never will forget over 15 years ago returning home from work to find my Smokie panting so hard I thought she'd die or pass out--she had gotten the handle of an empty plastic grocery bag round her neck and panicked, running and running to get away from it, when, of course, it was right there, still attached, rattling and scaring her even more so that she increased her speed...it was a vicious cycle with no respite until she allowed me to remove it, but I can only imagine she might have killed herself if I'd not arrived in time. Lesson learned, all plastic bags have been stowed away in a cabinet from then on. 

 [Rilla] had been much petted and was a wee bit spoiled, but still the general opinion was that Rilla Blythe was a very sweet girl, even if she were not so clever as Nan and Di. (12) 

As if they weren't enough people living at Ingleside, the Blythes even allow Rilla's teacher, Gertrude Oliver to live with them, bunking in Rilla's room. But Rilla-my-Rilla (as designated by Walter years before) "was fathoms deep in love" with Gertrude, who asked Rilla if she would go to college in the fall:

  "No--nor any other fall. I don't want to. I never cared for all those ologies and isms Nan and Di are so crazy about. There's five of us going to college already. Surely that's enough. There's bound to be one dunce in every family. I'm quite willing to be a dunce if I can be a pretty, popular, delightful one. I have no talent at all. And you can't imagine how comfortable it is. Nobody expects me to do anything....Father says I toil not neither do I spin. Therefore, I must be a lily of the field." 

..."I can't be sober and serious--everything looks so rosy and rainbowy to me. Next month I'll be fifteen and next year sixteen--and then seventeen. Could anything be more enchanting?" (16)
Ah, but life can change drastically...

When England declares war on Germany, Mary Vance states: 

  "What does it matter if there's going to be a war over there in Europe? I'm sure it doesn't concern us."

  Walter looked at her and had one of his odd visitations of prophecy. 

  "Before this war is over," he said--or something said through his lips--"every man and woman and child in Canada will feel it--you, Mary, will feel it--feel it to your heart's core. You will weep tears of blood over it. The Piper has come--and he will pipe until every corner of the world has heard his awful and irresistible music. It will be years before the dance of death is over--years, Mary. And in those years millions of hearts will break."..."this isn't a paltry struggle in a Balkan corner....It is a death grapple. Germany comes to conquer or to die. And do you know what will happen if she conquers? Canada will be a German colony." (34)

It was the depiction of Walter and Rilla's relationship that truly stood out for me in this last installment of the Green Gables series:
It was one of the evenings Rilla was to treasure in remembrance all her life--the first one on which Walter had ever talked to her as if she were a woman and not a child. They comforted and strengthened each other. Walter felt, for the time being at least, that it was not such a despicable thing after all to dread the horror of war; and Rilla was glad to be made the confidante of his struggles--to sympathize with and encourage him. She was of importance to somebody. (48)
Isn't it true? We all need to feel that way--as if we are needed and wanted by somebody... This relationship made me truly miss having had siblings--though I realize not all siblings are this close, at least there might have been a chance for that type of relationship. Though Rilla-my-Rilla soon becomes indispensable to another...

Walter bemoans the idea that he "should have been a girl" so others wouldn't expect him to enlist. Though the females helped as they could, especially by sending their loved ones off to fight: 

"When our women fail in courage, 

Shall our men be fearless still?" (40)

Rilla surprises everyone by founding, organizing, and maintaining the Junior Reds to help with war efforts as they would sew and knit, and collect items for the troops. Yet while trekking through the Glen and Four Winds to ostensibly collect Red Cross supplies, Rilla-my-Rilla discovers one item that demands much more care than she had ever imagined...a "war" baby! (I had never seen this term before...) Noting its delicate physical condition and the fact that his constant crying was ignored by the poverty-stricken woman left to care for it, she places the babe in a soup tureen and hauls it home to Ingleside, assuming her mother and Susan would care for him, a thought of which her father/Gilbert quickly disabused her...

She would look after this detestable little animal if it killed her. She would get a book on baby hygiene and be beholden to nobody. She would never go to father for advice--she wouldn't bother mother--and she would only condescend to Susan in dire extremity. They would all see! 

  Thus it came about that Mrs. Blythe, when she returned home two days later and asked Susan where Rilla was, was electrified by Susan's composed reply.

  "She's upstairs, Mrs. Dr. dear, putting her baby to bed.  (67)
Quite the shock to Anne, I'm sure! It was fascinating to watch Rilla develop as she cared for little Jims. Initially she stated, "If I can't love you I mean to be proud of you." But eventually...well...you can imagine. :)

As with all the Green Gables books there are many subplots and characters. Jem's Dog Monday is quite the tear-jerker, as he waits and waits for return of his buddy, never leaving the train station and inspecting all arrivals, searching for his Jem. (This was particularly fascinating as poor Jem initially had such a challenge in finding a dog he could truly bond with as a youngster.) Mary Vance has a beau, as does Rilla, though both enlist. Some volunteers return and some don't. However, the war perhaps helped some to put certain aspects of life into a larger perspective:
  "I used to hate Methodists," said Miss Cornelia calmly,..."but I don't hate them now. There is no sense in hating Methodists when there is a Kaiser or a Hindenburg in the world." (173)
So if there can be one good thing to come of war, perhaps it is to accept others, regardless of our personal preferences or opinions, we are all just humans after all, with many more commonalities than differences. 

Walter says to Rilla-my-Rilla on the night he decides to enlist:

"It's not death I fear--I told you that long ago....There's so much hideousness in this war--I've got to go and help wipe it out of the world. I'm going to fight for the beauty of life,...this is my duty. (118) 
Being in the middle of a Gone With the Wind read-along, I was reminded of Ashley Wilkes and his own feelings about war and fighting. Walter does become a published poet as he desired, though perhaps not in a way he might have foreseen.

"Comes he slow or comes he fast

It is but death who comes at last." (118)

And this eventually comes to pass for each of us. Though I was relieved to discover that when a person with whom I was discussing this series let it slip that Gilbert died...she was wrong! Both Gilbert and Anne outlived the series! :) (Bit of a spoiler, perhaps, but really...there are only so many tissues manufactured and available at one time!!) I'm certain I was much more relieved about that than I might have otherwise been...

Now these books go to my grandchildren. I only hope they have a portion of the amount of enjoyment from them that I have had! :) And...if you've never read them...it is NEVER too late! 

Come Along on the Green Gables Read-Along!! We meet all the kids!!

Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery

Getting to know the Ingleside and manse kids is quite the pleasure!  These two groups of children meshed immediately:
The race of Joseph recognized its own. (26) 
As an only child who was fairly isolated on a 180-acre farm in the rural midwestern U.S., I cannot imagine having so many other children to interact with all the time! What fun! Little did Susan realize that the "uninteresting" and "immaterial" lead article about the assassination of "some Archduke Ferdinand or other" at a place "bearing the weird name of Sarajevo" would impact all their lives greatly in the future! And of course, for me, one of the most fascinating inhabitants of Ingleside is Dr.-Jekyll-and-Mr.-Hyde or "Doc" as the large fluffy orange cat is known! As Dr. Blythe/Gilbert noted

  "The only thing I envy a cat is it's purr....It is the most contented sound in the world." (3)
I don't know...as I watch my five fur-babies, I'm pretty jealous of their nice home with lots of love and plenty of food, water, and toys! And their naps! They have the luxury of so many naps!! :)

Gilbert and Anne have just returned from a three-month sojourn overseas. Anne is anxiously awaiting Miss Cornelia's arrival so she can hear about "everything" that has happened to everyone in the past three months. Anne confesses, 
  "Do you know, Susan, I have a dreadful suspicion that I love gossip." 
  "Well of course, Mrs Dr. Dear," admitted Susan, "every proper woman likes to hear the news."   (3)
I can't imagine having left my children for three whole months! However, if you were going to travel back then it had to be by ship over water, and that takes a long time. In discussing the Methodist vs. Presbyterian ministers,
  Miss Cornelia's scorn of men had abated somewhat since her marriage, but her scorn of Methodists remained untinged of charity. (10)

Jem, Anne and Gilbert's oldest, was "the child of the House of Dreams," all the others had been born at Ingleside. 
  He was and always had been a study, reliable little chap. He never broke a promise. He was not a great talker. His teachers did not think him brilliant, but he was a good, all-round student. He never took things on faith; he always liked to investigate the truth of a statement for himself. (16)

Next oldest was Walter Blythe, a poet if ever there was one. He was a "'hop out of kin, as far as looks went. He did not resemble any known relative." He had inherited his mother's "vivid imagination and passionate love of beauty" and read poetry from the time he first started reading. Kids at school thought him "girly" and "milk-soppish" since he was always in out-of-the-way locations reading...while other boys were fighting or playing sports. However, the one time he did choose to fight (to defend his mother's and Faith's honor) he won quite handily!
  With Walter food for the soul always took first place. (19)
Rev. John Meredith and he "had taken to each other and had talked unreservedly." 
Mr. Meredith found his way into some sealed and sacred chambers of the lad's soul wherein not even Di had ever looked. (86)
Philosophers and thinkers, both of them. 'Birds of a feather...' Though Mr. Meredith did eventually meet someone and romance blossomed, at least for a while...

The 10-year-old female twins were far from identical in looks. Anne, always called Nan, was very pretty--a "dainty little maiden." Diana, known as Di, had her mother's eyes and red hair. She was Gilbert's favorite and she and Walter were very close--"she kept all his secrets, even from Nan, and told him all hers." And then there's Mary Vance who inevitably 'stirs the pot' almost every time she opens her mouth! Oh, I would have loved to catch her at it just once! She was so mean!

The children of the manse were allowed to run quite wild, as they were left alone much of the time. Rev. John Knox Meredith was an "absent-minded, indulgent man" who lived in a world of books and abstractions," and his Aunt Martha was a rather poor housekeeper who didn't seem to pay much attention to her nieces and nephews. Meredith's wife had died and he was left to raise their children. However, the Glen St. Mary manse was "very homelike and lovable,"  There was an atmosphere of laughter and comradeship about it; the doors were always open; and inner and outer worlds joined hands. Love was the only law..." (20)
The eldest, Jerry had his father's black hair and large black eyes that were flashing rather than dreamy like his father's. Next in line was Faith, who "wore her beauty like a rose, careless and glowing." 
She laughed too much to please her father's congregation and had shocked old Mrs. Taylor, the disconsolate spouse of several departed husbands, by saucily declaring--in the church-porch at that--"The world isn't a vale of tears, Mrs. Taylor. It's a world of laughter." (22)
Ah, yes, back then truly pious people were to be sedate and quiet-mannered, or what I would consider to be dull and boring! :) Though she was none of those when she confronted Norman Douglas, convincing him to attend church AND contribute handsomely to her father's salary! No one could know how that might impact both Ellen and Rosemary West's futures! 

Next came dreamy Una who was not given to laughter. She was quite serious with her "braids of straight, dead-black hair" and "almond-shaped, dark-blue eyes, caring much more than Faith about others' opinions of her and her family. Carl had the "clear, bright, dark-blue eyes, fearless and direct, of his dead mother, and her brown hair with its glints of gold." Carl knew all about insects and critters, sometimes taking them to bed with him and definitely carrying them in his pockets. I so admired these children for not only creating, but maintaining and enforcing decisions of the Good Conduct Club. How sweet... Of course, until little Carl contracted pneumonia as a result of one of his self-imposed punishments! And of Rilla it was said that her "sole aspiration seems to be to have a good time." Ah...but just wait! :) People can surprise you! 

I could relate to the children catching trout and then cooking them outside over an open fire. My sons had built a makeshift shelter in a copse of pine trees by our house and dug a fire pit over which they placed an old grate from a 'dead' grill. They would take my iron skillets out and cook eggs and bacon and even make toast! They had a blast doing that with their friends! Ever so many scandals and excursions amongst these "race of Joseph" children: riding pigs, playing in graveyards, telling ghost stories... Perhaps the biggest scandal of all was when the manse children (sans Carl who was sick) cleaned the house...on a SUNDAY!! Oh, horrors! ;) Miss Cornelia was quite upset about these activities, but Anne defended them,
"...they're only little children. And you know they've never yet done anything bad--they're just heedless and impulsive--as I was myself once. They'll grow sedate and sober--as I've done."
  Miss Cornelia laughed, too. 
  "There are times, Anne dearie, when I know by your eyes that your soberness is put on like a garment and you're really aching to do something wild and young again. Well, I feel encouraged. Somehow, a talk with you always does have that effect on me." (83-84)
Aha! Anne may not be as grown up as she'd like to let on! However, she is very mature in her handling of people...her interpersonal skills are well developed! Of course, as much as she talked as a child, she certainly got a lot of practice interacting with others! 

Really, I am sad that this Green Gables Read-Along is close to finished! I have adored all these books and though this review is almost 3 weeks late, I had read this book and the last one in the series a couple of weeks ago. Just too darned busy to get reviews posted! But here ya go! I hope my review helps you know this book a bit or even brings some memories if you've read it... I love Montgomery's writing!

Engaged Anne--principal and meddler of the best kind!

Anne of Windy Poplars
by L.M. Montgomery

I am so very glad I took advantage of ReederReads' Green Gables Read-Along!

We get to know Anne as the principal of Summertime High School, living on Spook's Lane in Windy Poplars. As Anne writes to Gilbert,
     Isn't that an address? Did you ever hear anything
     so delicious? Windy Poplars is the name of my new
     home and I love it. I also love Spook's Lane, which
     has no legal existence. It should be Trent Street
     but it is never called Trent Street... It's dusk
     dearest. (In passing, isn't 'dusk' a lovely word? I
     like it better than twilight. It sounds so velvety
     and shadowy and...and...dusky.) In daylight I
     belong to the world...in the night to sleep and
     eternity. But in the dusk I'm free from both and
     belong only to myself...and you. (3)

     I wended my way to the graveyard this evening, Anne wrote to Gilbert... I
     think 'wend your way' is a lovely phrase and I try to work it in whenever I
     can. (51)
I'm so glad to see that Anne has yet to lose her fascination with words, nor her imaginative beliefs! Anne is Anne is Anne...and I'm always thrilled with that knowledge as I read each of these books. She becomes so familiar and well-known at the start and never loses that appeal...at least to me! (And, in case you're wondering, like Anne, I also try to use certain favorite words or phrases whenever possible!)

The first person she and Mrs. Lynde meet in town is Mrs. Braddock who immediately warns her of the "Royal family":
     ...a third cousin of theirs applied for the Principalship and they all think he
     should have got it. When your application was accepted the whole kit and
     kaboodle of them threw back their heads and howled. Well, people are like
     that. We have to take them as we find them, you know. They'll be as smooth
     as cream to you but they'll work against you every time. I'm not wanting to
     discourage you, but forewarned is forearmed. I hope you'll make good just
     to spite them. (6)
Ah, that good ol' two-faced business--nice to your face, nasty behind your back! I was once told by a minister's wife that she had learned, the first church members who fall all over themselves to ingratiate you and praise you upon your arrival in a new church, are typically the first to stab you in the back, much as the Pringles are known to be. So very sad, "that's what," as Mrs. Lynde would say! But I loved Mrs. Braddock for telling Anne in a most factual and positive way without lowering herself to the Pringles' level of snide hypocrisy!

Anne lucks out by beating the new banker in town to the "tower room" at Windy Poplars and lives with the two widows and Rebecca Dew, of whom she writes to Gilbert,
     You can't separate those names, Gilbert. It's impossible...though the
     widows do it. They call her Rebecca when they speak to her. I don't know
     how they manage it. (10)
And the way Aunt Kate and Aunt Chatty (everyone calls them 'aunt'!) use reverse psychology with Rebecca Dew is hysterical! First to get her to agree to take Anne as a boarder and then to keep Dusty Miller living with them! So funny!

     No matter how often and long I'm away from [Green Gables], the minute a
     vacation comes I'm part of it again as if I have never been away, and my
     heart is torn over leaving it. But I know I'll like it here. And it likes me. I
     always know whether a house likes me or not. (12)
Fanciful Anne! Knowing whether a house likes her or not! :) We learn much about Anne's life during these three years through the letters she writes to Gilbert, as well as narrative. I typically love epistolary novels (The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows always comes to mind as a beautiful example.) I so enjoyed imagining Gilbert's reactions as he read Anne's long letters!

Regarding her trials and tribulations with the Pringles:
     School has been 'keeping' for two weeks now and I've got things pretty well
     organized. But Mrs. Braddock was right...the Pringles are my problem. And
     as yet I don't see exactly how I'm going to solve it in spite of my lucky
     clovers. ...they are as smooth as cream, and as slippery.

     My room is full of Pringles and a good many students who bear another
     name have Pringle blood in them. The ring-leader of them seems to be Jen
     Pringle, a green-eyed bantling who looks as Becky Sharp must have looked
     at fourteen. I believe she is deliberately organizing a subtle campaign of
     insubordination and disrespect, with which I am going to find it hard to cope.
     (17) [Confession: I had to google Becky Sharp, having never read Vanity
              Fair!]
But just as Anne believes she has lost this 'war,' as so often happens with her, she lucks out and gains some valuable historical information pertinent to the Pringles that salvages her relationship with them, being accepted by all of them, making her secure in her three-year contract as principal and much happier since she admits that she still can't stand not to be 'liked' by everyone, just as she felt as a child. Interestingly, as I read this I thought of a person who told me their goal in life was to "make everyone love me." This made me uneasy, because it is so unrealistic, not everyone will love any one person, so while you can hopefully establish respectful relationships with most people you encounter, it is impossible to make each person love or even like you. But I assume that Anne was referring to the ability to establish effective and respectful relationships, at least I am making that my interpretation of her desire. :)

One of the main themes of all the Green Gables books I've read thus far is the idea of Anne simply trying to be the best person she can be, even when meddling into other peoples' lives and affairs, and these actions turning out to save her in many ways. For example, her private nurturing of Sophy Sinclair's desire and talent to act, thereby thwarting Jen Pringle, the lead actress in the High School play , when she claimed to be sick the day of the performance, hoping to destroy any hope of Anne's success as the faculty sponsor of the event. This allowed Sophy to stand in and experience success which lead her to become a very successful actress as an adult, and saving Anne from defeat! Anne's persistence to get to know and like Katherine which led the woman to change careers and find happiness she had never hoped to discover within herself.

Perhaps the two most poignant stories of all in this book: Little Elizabeth's hope that her father would rescue her from life with her Grandmother and The Woman, and that bit of magic as Lewis and Anne deliver Little Fellow's picture to his father, altering his life perspective for the better! And finally, perhaps the funniest and most realistic to me, her part in the Hazel and Terry marriage debacle, or so it seemed... Anne's life continues to contain one adventure after another, as she puts herself 'out there' in society and tries to 'do good' for others as much as she is able...

I believe this may well be my second favorite book of this series so far, after the first book, Anne of Green Gables. How about your favorite(s) within this series? And if you haven't read them, you really should. In my opinion this is classic/children's literature at it's best! 

Meet Anne--voluble and imaginative child logophile...

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Reeder Reads has established a Green Gables Read-Along for 2015.

Here is the reading schedule:

January: Anne of Green Gables

February: Anne of Avonlea

March: Anne of the Island

April: Anne of Windy Poplars

May: Anne's House of Dreams

June: Anne of Ingleside

July: Rainbow Valley

August: Rilla of Ingleside

I finished reading the first installment, Anne of Green Gables, on January 15th, 2015, but am just now posting my review on February 8th, 2015! Although I honestly don't remember ever reading this book when young, there were parts that seemed so familiar...but it's neither here nor there because now I have definitely read it. Perhaps one of the most impressive aspects of this book was the idea of Anne's redemption by Matthew and Mirella; finally she has a real "home" and a real "life" other than that as an orphan/slave/housekeeper/governess. Although she had learned useful and practical child-rearing skills, such as how to treat croup, she certainly had no time to be a child, per se. How awful! My heart went out to her. I believe Matthew was perhaps my favorite character. I got such a kick out of his reluctance to "do the raising" of Anne, yet he was willing to sneakily "put his oar in" to stand up for Anne when he felt Mirella was being a bit too strict/tough on her, though he had promised Marilla he wouldn't do that. :) After all, "Matthew would have thought anyone who praised Anne was 'all right.'" She was definitely the "apple of his eye," and Anne recognized almost immediately that she and Matthew were "kindred spirits."  

Mirella and Matthew were brother and sister, still living on and running the Cuthbert family farm. She had established herself as a very stoic personality, whereas, he appeared to be a very shy person, who communicated little, even with Mirella! Then along comes this strange little girl, Anne Shirley, who seemingly chatters incessantly, uses words that are way too big for a child of her age to use (I could relate to that!), and has no social filter about what she says to whom. Matthew traveled the 8 miles to Bright River to pick up an orphan boy to help him on the farm, but the only child there was this scrawny little girl.  I felt these communicative characteristics were perhaps a result of her never before being allowed free reign, so to speak, over her actions/behaviors. She had lived with people who simply used her as a virtual slave, expecting her to perform household and child-rearing tasks, with no time to "play" or actually be a child, not even her own person! She was forced into an adult role as a child, so when she arrives at the Cuthberts' doorstep, it is virtually the first time she is allowed to express herself, and express herself she does! :) 

Anne has obviously learned to use her imagination as an escape (or coping mechanism) from the drudgery of her daily life, and she hesitates not to share her imaginative wanderings with everyone and anyone!
     I just love pretty clothes. And I've never had a pretty dress in my life that I can 
     remember--but of course it's all the more to look forward to, isn't it? And then I 
     can imagine that I'm dressed gorgeously. This morning when I left the asylum I 
     felt so ashamed because I had to wear this horrid old wincey dress. All the 
     orphans had to wear them, you know. A merchant in Hopeton last winter 
     donated three hundred yards of wincey to the asylum. Some people said it was 
     because he couldn't sell it, but I'd rather believe that it was out of the kindness 
     of his heart, wouldn't you? (p. 14)
For me, this paragraph pretty much sums up Anne's personality and thought process when she first arrived at age 11. Although Matthew seems to be a very kind person and actually enjoys Anne's company on the drive back to Green Gables, even he thinks of her as a "freckled witch" who was "very different" from the "well-bred" little girls he had seen. Some of the verbiage of this book dates it: "orphan asylum," Anne's claim it wouldn't be so hard to keep her temper is people didn't "twit her about her looks," but the story is timeless. 

Then Marilla sends Anne to Sunday School:
     She did not think she liked Miss Rogerson, and she felt very miserable; every
     other little girl in the class had puffed sleeves. Anne felt that life was really 
     not worth living without puffed sleeves. (p. 81)
Ah, how quickly we become accustomed to prettier dresses and then desire more. :) And how melodramatic and typical for a pre-teen female is that last sentence? :) In the aftermath of Anne's report of her first experience at church:
     Marilla felt helplessly that all this should be sternly reproved, but she was 
     hampered by the undeniable fact that some of the things Anne had said, 
     especially about the minister's sermons and Mr. Bell's prayers, was what she
     herself had really thought deep down in her heart for years, but had never 
     given expression to. It almost seemed to her that those secret. unuttered,. 
     critical thoughts had suddenly taken visible and accusing shape and form in the
     person of this outspoken morsel of neglected humanity. (p. 83)      

Anne's broken ankle reveals several things. Marilla watches as the Barry family and other girls approach with Anne:
     At that moment Marilla had a revelation. In the sudden stab of fear that 
     pierced to her very heart she realized what Anne had come to mean to her. 
     She would have admitted that she liked Anne--nay, that she was very fond of
     Anne. But now she knew as she hurried wildly down the slope that Anne was
     dearer to her than anything on earth. (p. 186)
For not only was Anne redeemed by Matthew and Marilla, but she also redeemed them and brought more love to them in their life than she might ever realize. 

In speaking of those true friends who visited while her ankle healed, Anne states:
     ...even Superintendent Bell came to see me, and he's really a very fine man. Not 
     a kindred spirit, of course; but still I like him and I'm awfully sorry I ever 
     criticized his prayers. I believe now he really does mean them, only he has got 
     into the habit of saying them as if he didn't. He could get over that if he'd take 
     a little trouble. I gave him a good broad hint. I told him how I tried to make my 
     own little private prayers interesting. (p. 188)
She was a good-hearted soul, always trying to help others, in whatever way she thought possible. 

Montomery's use of language is virtually unmatched, in my opinion. I could relate so easily to Anne's outspoken ways, Marilla's realization that her own unspoken thoughts were given voice by this "morsel," and Matthew's oft-repeated, "Well, now, I dunno..." All are priceless! Anne uses her imagination to immediately rename some of the Green Gables' landmarks: "The Avenue" becomes "The White Way of Delight," Barry's pond" becomes "The Lake of Shining Waters." I could particularly relate to the descriptions of nature through Anne's imaginative, appreciative, and fresh eyes.

Marilla becomes very angry with Anne early on for her angry outburst at Rachel Lynde for calling her "skinny and homely" with "hair as red as carrots." As Marilla leaves Anne in her room until she can apologize to Mrs. Lynde, she is 
     grievously troubled in mind and vexed in soul. She was as angry with herself as 
     with Anne, because whenever she recalled Mrs. Rachel's dumfounded countenance 
     her lips twitched with amusement and she felt a most reprehensible desire to 
     laugh. (p. 69) 
Anne holds out on apologizing, "bravely facing the long years of solitary imprisonment before her." (Her imagination is boundless!) Matthew sneaks into the house to Anne's room upstairs while Marilla is out and asks Anne to apologize, stating that his sister's a "dreadful determined woman--dreadful determined," and it is "terrible lonesome downstairs" without Anne. Anne agrees to "do it for him."

Finally, of Anne and Matthew:
     Those two were the best of friends and Matthew thanked his stars many a time 
     and oft that he had nothing to do with bringing her up. That was Marilla's 
     exclusive duty; if it had been his he would have been worried over frequent 
     conflicts between inclination and said duty. As it was he was free to 'spoil 
     Anne,'--Marilla's phrasing--as much as he liked. But it was not such a bad 
     arrangement after all; a little 'appreciation' sometimes does quite as much good 
     as all the conscientious 'bringing up' in the world.

In the aftermath of Matthew's death, Marilla speaks to Anne: 
     I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here--if you'd never come. Oh, Anne, I 
     know I've been kind of strict and harsh with you maybe--but you mustn't think 
     I didn't love you as well as Matthew did, for all that. I want to tell you now when 
     I can. It's never been easy for me to say things out of my heart, but at times like 
     this it's easier. I love you as dear as if you were my own flesh and blood and 
     you've been my joy and comfort ever since you came to Green Gables. (p. 296)
I was very impressed that she took advantage of an opportunity to express her true feelings to Anne. How many of us wait too long to do this with people who are so important to us in our lives? Too many, is my guess. 

I am so glad for Anne and Gilbert's friendship. He was certainly kind to her and I suspect he will play more of a role in the next book(s) as we progress through her life.

Have you read this series? As a child? If not, join along!! It's rather fun! Although I fully admit...I cried, really cried. :)

Join me later this month to discuss Anne of Avonlea.