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!

Childhood drama, trauma, and Gilbert's extreme "clannishness"!

Anne of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery

Join the Green Gables Read-Along initiated by Reeder Reads!

Ah, Anne must accustom herself to a new home, Ingleside:

  I once thought I would never love it. I hated it when we went there first...hated it for its very virtues. They were an insult to my dear House of Dreams....I reveled in a luxury of homesickness for a while. Then...I found little rootlets of affection for Ingleside beginning to sprout out. I fought against it...I really did...but at last I had to give in and admit I loved it. And I've loved it better every year since. (10)

Anne did finally adjust, especially once she had gardens established and more than enough children to fill the house! 
I love the way Susan always addresses Anne as "Mrs. Dr. Dear"! It is so very sweet and yet respectful...

In this sixth installment we learn much more about Anne and Gilbert's offspring, especially some of their various (and rather common) trials and tribulations! There is the time that Jem was missing and the whole town was out looking for him--he was found safe and sound right in the house! It seems that several of Anne's children have inherited her own creative imagination. Her Walter reminds me so much of Paul Irving from Anne's first teaching position and Anne herself...
  Walter was lying awake in his bed trying to escape from the haunting thought that he was to go away next day by giving free rein to fancy. Walter had a very vivid imagination. It was to him a great white charger,...on which he could gallop backward or forward in time and space....The black plaster-of-Paris cat on the library mantelpiece was a fairy witch. It came alive at night and prowled about the house, grown to enormous size. Walter ducked his head under the bedclothes and shivered. He was always scaring himself with his own fancies. (36) 
Ah, shades of his mama and the way she and Diana became so scared they wouldn't walk certain paths at night! :) 

Enter the main 'tribulation' of the moment for Anne and her children, particularly Susan, and much less for Gilbert as he (comparatively) spends so very little time at home--Gilbert's own "Aunt Mary Maria" (actually his father's cousin)! She reminded me so much of my mother it was scary! As Anne became a bit perturbed by said "Aunt,"
  "I think I'll go upstairs and lie down"... She kissed Walter good-bye rather casually and hurriedly...very much as if she were not thinking about him at all. Walter would not cry. Aunt Mary Maria kissed him on the forehead...Walter hated to be moistly kissed on the forehead...and said:
  "Mind your table manners at Lowbridge, Walter. Mind you ain't greedy. If you are, a Big Black Man will come along with a big black bag to pop naughty children into."
  It was perhaps as well that Gilbert had gone out...and did not hear this. He and Anne had always made a point of never frightening their children with such ideas or allowing anyone else to do it. (38)
This resonated so strongly with me. I also tried to never use fear as a motivator for my own children in any way. In my opinion, that should be reserved for the truly dangerous lessons--you could get hit by a car if you run into the road, you will get burned if you touch a hot stove, etc.--for it loses it's efficacy if overused and teaches children to manipulate emotions to influence people, rather than encouraging the development and use of intellectual logic and rationale to understand, reason, and learn. 

Walter's experience at Lowbridge is short-lived as he is so traumatized that he actually runs away the first night and walks SIX MILES to return home, convinced that his mother is dead. Upon entering the house at the first light of dawn and being comforted by Susan and assured Mother has not died, he tells Susan,
  I suffered awful agony of the mind"... (52)
OMGoodness! Is that not cute? So dramatic, and yet so very sincere! Anne reassures him,
  "Oh, Mummy, you're not going to die...and you still love me, don't you?"
  "Darling, I've no notion of dying...and I love you so much it hurts. To think that you walked all the way from Lowbridge in the night!"
  "And on an empty stomach," shuddered Susan. "The wonder is he is alive to tell it. The days of miracles are not yet over and that you may tie to."
  "A spunky little lad," laughed Dad... (52)
I love Susan's "and that you may tie to" phrase! Upon obtaining a promise from his parents that he needn't ever leave home again unless he wanted to do so, he hesitates saying that he will never want to leave again, realizing that he wouldn't mind seeing Alice again! Ah...the attraction to girls had just begun. :)

Susan tells Rebecca Dew that
  ...Nan and Di have named their old china doll with the split head after Aunt Mary Maria and whenever she scolds them they go out and drown her...the doll I mean...in the rainwater hogshead. Many's the jolly drowning we have had, I can assure you. (60)  
I had to laugh! Although Susan's well aware Anne and Gilbert would put a stop to this practice, she keeps this secret ritual from them. Unfortunately, this "Aunt" extends her initially announced two-week stay into many months, which was not uncommon at that time. Relatives might 'visit' for years..or even decades! Anne and Susan are both frustrated and upset with this visitor's behavior, but Anne keeps trying to rationalize and be kind to her...ultimately, it is her over-the-top kind act that ironically upsets Aunt Mary Maria enough to return to her own home and leave them in peace yet once again! Again, I laughed out loud!! Montgomery's humor is so well-timed! As Anne rather guiltily realizes, "I've never sped a parting guest so willingly." (80)

In the process of trying to make a match between two people who were already secretly engaged, Anne 
  ...ruined her dining room carpet, destroyed two treasured heirlooms and spoiled her library ceiling....[T]here is one consolation...Jen Pringle's letter today saying she is going to marry Louis Stedman whom she met at my party.The Bristol candlesticks were not sacrificed entirely in vain. (100)
Jem worked and saved his money to purchase what he thought were real pearls for his mother's birthday party, then discovered they were not real--he was devestated.
  "Oh, Mother dearwums, those pearls aren't real pearls...I thought they were...I did think they were...did..."
  Jem's eyes were full of tears. He couldn't go on.
  If Anne wanted to smile there was no sign of it on her face. Shirley had bumped his head that day, Nan had sprained her ankle, Di had lost her voice with a cold. Anne had kissed and bandaged and soothed; but this was different... this needed all the secret wisdom of mothers.
  "Jem, I never thought you supposed they were real pearls. I knew they weren't...at least in one sense of real. In another, they are the most real things I've ever had given to me. Because there was love and work and self-sacrifice in them...and that makes them more precious to me than all the gems that divers have fished up from the sea for queens to wear. Darling, I wouldn't exchange my pretty beads for the necklace I read of last night which some millionaire gave his bride and which cost half a million. So that shows you what your gift is worth to me, dearest of dear little sons." (113)

Jem is seemingly unlucky with befriending and loving dogs, Diana and Nan are both easily conned by other girls who feed them lies, Rilla tosses a whole cake into the stream rather than delivering it to the church as promised because she thought it would be awful to be seen carrying a cake! As Anne muses about her girls, 
  They were still hers...wholly hers, to mother and love and protect. They still came to her with every love and grief of their little hearts. For a few years longer they would be hers...and then? Anne shivered. Motherhood was very sweet...but very terrible. 
  "I wonder what life holds for them," she whispered.
  "At least, let's hope and trust they'll each get as good a husband as their mother got," said Gilbert teasingly. (194)
Anne considers:
  Well, that was life. Gladness and pain...hope and fear...and change. Always change! You could not help it. You had to let the old go and take the new into your heart...learn to love it...and then let it go in turn. (212)
Her final prayer:
...Dear God,...help all mothers everywhere. We need so much help, with the little sensitive, loving hearts and minds that look to us for guidance and love and understanding. (33)
Of course, this should include fathers and all caregivers to children, not just mothers. :)

I am always left with such an appreciation for Anne's kindness, generosity, and respect for all by the end of each of these books! It really is inspiring to me! How about you? Have you read any of these Green Gable books? If not, perhaps you will...

Wedded bliss and motherhood for Anne

Anne's House of Dreams 

by L.M. Montgomery

Although I was initially a bit disappointed that Anne would no longer be at Green Gables very often, I am NEVER disappointed in another installment of the Green Gables series! Thanks so much to Reeder Reads for putting this read-along together and heading it! I am so way far behind on my reading schedule for May I was uncertain if I could (1) get this read, and (2) complete a blog post, all before June 1st! But I have managed it! I have the usual 30 or more sticky notes in this book to mark those spots to which I wish to refer as I compose my review. However, overall, this is another favorite for me among the five I have now read in this series. 

I adore Montgomery's writing in so many ways. She doesn't hesitate to include what, for me at least, is some challenging vocabulary. I love learning new words! Anne's life always includes some tragedy as well as all the good stuff, so it isn't as "Polly-Annish" as I might have feared. As Marilla notes in considering her feelings and the future once Anne and Gilbert are married, "every joy must bring with it its little shadow of sorrow." (2) And I still believe Montgomery is unsurpassed in introducing new characters in each book and making the reader feel as if you've known them all along throughout the entire series! Captain Jim, Susan, Leslie, Cornelia. These are just four of the newly unforgettable people in Anne's life. I admit I was a bit nostalgic about Anne and Gilbert moving away from Green Gables, because I was going to miss Marilla, Rachel Lynde, and the twins, Davy and Dora, so very much. But it was fortunate for Anne and Gilbert that he was able to locate a doctor willing to retire so Gilbert could take over his practice!

Anne's wedding is held at Green Gables, a very small and intimate affair, as one might expect of Anne--she only wanted those closest to her in attendance. And there was no honeymoon to foreign locations; Gilbert and Anne choose instead to spend their time in virtual isolation at their "House of Dreams" located on the water in a beautifully green and lush setting. 

     "I don't suppose we'll have four such perfect weeks again--but we've had them. 

  Everything--wind, weather, folks, house of dreams--has conspired to make our 

  honeymoon delightful. There hasn't even been a rainy day since we came here."

     "And we haven't quarrelled once," teased Gilbert.

     "Well, 'that's a pleasure all the greater for being deferred,'" quoted Anne. I'm so glad 

  we decided to spend our honeymoon here. Our memories of it will always belong here, 

  in our house of dreams, instead of being scattered about in strange places." (40)

How wise of her. I would agree. 

Anne discussed the pros and cons of the new 'modern inconvenience'--the telephone. I had totally forgotten about the "party lines" of the past (Yes, I do remember them!), when you could literally hear others breathing as they listened to your conversation, and/or the sound of phones being hung up or picked up as you talked! That was a little creepy...to think others could listen. Though I was on my cell phone several years ago speaking with a friend out in California (I was in Indiana at the time) and all of a sudden she and I begin overhearing a conversation between a mother (located in Indiana) and her daughter (in California), then after a couple of minutes, I am speaking with the daughter and my friend is speaking with the mother, and our initial connection was broken! That was freaky! And proof that technology is not infallible! So, although we no longer have party lines...who knows?!? :)

In discussion of her upcoming wedding with Mrs. Harmon Andrews (her friend Jane's rather snooty mother), Anne responds to the mention of her red hair: 

     "Red hair is very fashionable now," said Anne, trying to smile, but speaking rather 

  coldly. Life had developed in her a sense of humour, which helped her over many 

  difficulties; but as yet nothing had availed to steel her against a reference to her hair." 

       (9)

Hah! Some things never change! :)

Anne describes her idea of the perfect marriage ceremony being performed in the orchard at dawn and Mrs. Lynde reacts: 

     "But that would be terrible queer, Anne. Why it wouldn't really seem legal. And what 

  would Mrs. Harmon Andrews say?" 

     "Ah, there's the rub," sighed Anne. "There are so many things in life we cannot do 

  because of the fear of what Mrs. Harmon Andrews would say. ''Tis true, 'tis pity, and 

  pity 'tis, 'tis true.' What delightful things we might do were it not for Mrs. Harmon 

  Andrews!" (13) 

Oh, my, I feel that is particularly true in a rural area, so many worry about what others think. Geeminy! I remember all about that growing up in the rural small-town Midwest! 

Then Phil delivers what is surely Anne's favorite wedding gift ever, Gog and Magog, the ceramic dogs from Patty's Place, where she and Phil lived while at college. Miss Patty and Maria were planning to will them to her, but decided they would give them to her while she was young. Awwww... What a sacrifice for them and yet what a wonderful gift to Anne. That made me love these two older sisters even more! 

As Gilbert describes the house he has found for them to live in, Anne exclaims,

     "Oh, I'm so glad! I couldn't live where there were no trees--something vital in me 

  would starve. Well, after that, there's no use asking if there's a brook anywhere near. 

  That would be expecting too much."

     "But there is a brook--and it actually cuts across one corner of the garden."

     "Then," said Anne, with a long sigh of supreme satisfaction, "this house you have 

  found is my house of dreams and none other." (11)

Montgomery describes the surrounding landscape of the "House of Dreams":

     The woods call to us with a hundred voices, but the sea has one only--a mighty voice that drowns our souls in its majestic music. The woods are human, but the sea is of the company of the archangels. (54) 

And so Anne was the first bride of Green Gables on a gorgeously sunny September afternoon.

     Gilbert, waiting for her in the hall below, looked up at her [as she came down the 

  stairs] with adoring eyes. It was to him she was coming in the sweet surrender of a 

  bride. Was he worthy of her? Could he make her as happy as he hoped? If he failed her--

  if he could not measure up to her standard of manhood--then, as she held out her 

  hand, their eyes met and all doubt was swept away in a glad certainty. They belonged 

  to each other; and, no matter what life might hold for them, it could never alter that. 

  Their happiness was in each other's keeping and both were unafraid." (21)

I admit to cringing a bit at the "sweet surrender" part! However, the ending seemed a bit more egalitarian, and after all, Gilbert had patiently waited...for years! It required him almost dying to bring Anne around. :)

And there were so many new and wonderfully delightful personalities among the friends Anne and Gilbert would make while living in their "House of Dreams." Captain Jim, though a "homely man"...had a "spirit shining through that rugged tenement [that] beautified it so wholly." (27) Though Miss Cornelia notes, 

     "Captain Jim is a good man, but he's kinda vexing in one way. You can't make him 

  mad. I've tried for over twenty years and he just keeps on being placid. It does sort of 

  rile me." (49)

In fact, Captain Jim and Miss Cornelia's relationship reminded me of my former mother- and father-in-laws' constant bickering! :)

Anne asks Miss Cornelia why she hates men:

     "Lord, dearie, I don't hate them. They aren't worth it. I just sort of despise them. I 

  think I'll like your husband if he keeps on as he has begun. But apart from him, about 

  the only men in the world I've much use for are the old doctor and Captain Jim." (48)

Though I would say there's little difference between hating and despising, I can understand her not wishing to expend the amount of energy it requires to hate... 

Anne becomes just a bit insecure when Gilbert heartily agrees Leslie is beautiful after his first meeting with her--she has a head full of abundantly shiny golden hair.

     "Gilbert, would you like my hair better if it were like Leslie's?" she asked wistfully.

     "I wouldn't have your hair any colour but just what it is for the world," said Gilbert, 

  with one or two convincing accompaniments. "You wouldn't be Anne if you had golden 

  hair--or hair of any colour but"--

     "Red," said Anne. with gloomy satisfaction.

     "Yes, red--to give warmth to that milk-white skin and those shining gray-green eyes 

  of yours. Golden hair wouldn't suit you at all, Queen Anne--my Queen Anne--queen of 

  my heart and life and home."

     "Then you may admire Leslie's all you like," said Anne magnanimously. (80)    

I'd like to think that if I had met Anne and Gilbert, I would have considered them to be of "the race that knows Joseph," too! :) You need to read this to learn about Anne's children, Joyce and James Matthew, and the whereabouts of Leslie's husband. Oh, and Miss Cornelia actually plans to be married at the end!! Shock! There is so much packed into these mere 227 pages! Have you read this series? I am love love loving it!

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! 

Anne goes to college and receives more than just a degree!

Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery

Join me for the third installment in the Green Gables Read-Along hosted by Reeder Reads! Although this was not my favorite book in this series thus far, I keep loving Monthgomery's writing! Perhaps it is just the stage of life in which we find Anne--college student fielding marriage proposals, rather momentous and life-altering. I was initially thrilled that Anne and Gilbert were going to be able to attend college at the same time, but that didn't quite work out the way I thought it might... And this cover did not, in my opinion, accurately reflect this book's story. But the series overall is amazing!!

So many truisms by which to live life in these books: 

     ...she was richer in those dreams than in
     realities; for things seen pass away, but 
     the things that are unseen are eternal. 
     (9)

Anne and Priscilla discuss their adjustment to college and Redmond:

     Anne: I'm thankful that neither Mrs. Lynde nor Mrs. Elisha Wright know, or 
     ever will know, my state of mind at present. They would exult in saying 'I 
     told you so,' and be convinced it was the beginning of the end. Whereas it is 
     just the end of the beginning.

     Priscilla: Exactly. That sounds more Anneish. In a little while we'll be 
     acclimated and acquainted, and all will be well. (25)

I admit to being rather surprised at Montgomery making fun of the Sloanes:

     And oh, if only that dismal rain would stop pouring down as if the whole world 
     were weeping over summer vanished and joys departed! Even Gilbert's 
     presence brought her no comfort, for Charlie Sloane was there, too, and 
     Sloanishness could be tolerated only in fine weather. It was absolutely 
     insufferable in rain. (18)

And Priscilla, when Miss Ada asked her (in a reproachful way!) why she had allowed her prized cushion to be sat upon: 

     I told her I hadn't--that it was a matter of predestination coupled with 
     inveterate Sloanishness and I wasn't a match for both combined. (44)

Admittedly, I despise making fun of people for things they cannot help, but the repeated use of the term "Sloanishnessness" does make me chuckle! Although...poor Charlie!

I was so happy that Gilbert was "Big Man on Campus" and desired by all the girls! High time he got the attention and adoration he deserved! Besides being a top scholar, he was elected Captain of the Football Team!

I had to chuckle at Rachel's wish that Anne would never travel to "The States":

     ...The way girls roam over the earth now is something terrible. It always 
     makes me think of Satan in the Book of Job, going to and fro and walking up 
     and down. I don't believe the Lord ever intended it, that's what. (41)

Aaaahhhh...Mrs. Lynde's "that's what" makes me smile every time! How quaint and precious!

Philippa ("Phil") is quite the character. Again, I love how Montgomery introduces new characters in each book, and each of them adds so much! In discussing a walk in the park with Anne, Priscilla, Gilbert, and Charlie:

        "But," said Philippa dolefully, "if I go I'll have to be gooseberry and that will 
     be a new experience for Philippa Gordon.
        "Well, new experiences are broadening. Come along, and you'll be able to 
     sympathize with all poor souls who have to play gooseberry often. But where 
     are all the victims?"
        "Oh, I was tired of them all and simply couldn't be bothered with any of 
     them today. Besides, I've been feeling a little blue--just a pale, elusive azure. 
     It isn't serious enough for anything darker." (43)

Hah! Montgomery's language kills me! The descriptive color of her mood and "victims" rather than admirers or boyfriends! It all makes me chuckle and laugh!

One of the scenes I liked best in this book was Davy's conscience punishing him more than anything else could after he leads Dora astray into truancy from church and Sunday School one fine Sunday morning:

        "What's my conscience? I want to know."
        "It's something in you, Davy, that always tells you when you are doing 
     wrong and makes you unhappy if you persist in doing it. Haven't you 
     noticed that?"
        "Yes, but I didn't know what it was. I wish I didn't have it. I'd have lots 
     more fun. Where is my conscience, Anne? I want to know. Is it in my 
     stomach?"
        "No, it's in your soul," answered Anne, thankful for the darkness since 
     gravity must be preserved in serious matters.
        "I s'pose I can't get clear of it then, said Davy with a sigh. (101)

I adore Davy's honesty and openness! And his "I want to know"! And don't we all, especially when we're young...

As Ruby describes her regrets of a ruined friendship over something petty and now seemingly so "silly," I am once again struck by Montgomery's recurrent theme of misunderstandings and/or lack of communication ripping people apart from each other. I admired Anne's loyalty and devotion to her dying friend; that is difficult to do at any time of life, but especially when you're so young... 

        "All life's lessons are not learned at college. Life teaches them
     everywhere." (111)

Although Anne took her education very seriously and studied hard, she also realized that everyday life offered much learning in and of itself! One such example was Diana's well-meaning use of Anne's story to advertise Rollings Reliable, earning Anne some money by editing, commercializing, and submitting her first short story in a publishing contest. Again, Anne is impressive in her maturity, squelching her shock that Diana had done this without her knowledge, though grateful for the money! And Gilbert proves his practicality:

     "...One would rather write masterpieces of literature no doubt--but 
     meanwhile board and tuition fees have to be paid."
        This commonsense, matter of fact view of the case cheered Anne a little. 
     At least it removed her dread of being laughed at, though the deeper hurt of 
     an outraged ideal remained. (115)

And we know how idealistic Anne can be! 

Sharing my home with five felines, I was appalled at Phil's attempt to kill the kitty that followed Anne home! How awful! But he became "Rusty" and acclimated to Sarah-cat and Joseph, making it a three-kitty household. :) Of them Aunt Jamesina says:

        "Let them fight it out. ... They'll make friends after a bit." (125)

And they did, once Sarah-cat put Rusty in his place "with one contemptuous sweep of her capable paw" and he and Joseph became best buds!

I was gratified that Anne was able to connect to some degree with her own parents, speaking with someone who had known them. As she stated:

        "This has been the most beautiful day of my life. ... I've found my father 
     and mother. Those letters have made them real to me. I'm not an orphan 
     any longer. I feel as if I had opened a book and found roses of yesterday, 
     sweet and beloved, between its leaves." (147)

Having never met my own father, and having recently acquired part of a letter he wrote many years ago, I could relate to this. And yet, as Marilla contemplates her life:

     ...the coming of Anne--the vivid, imaginative, impetuous child with her 
     heart of love, and her world of fancy, bringing with her color and warmth 
     and radiance, until the wilderness of existence had blossomed like the rose. 
     Marilla felt that out of her sixty years she had lived only the nine that had 
     followed the advent of Anne. (148)

This passage brings tears to my eyes each time I read it. Anne could never fully realize just how much love and happiness she had brought to Matthew and Marilla, much as any child does for any parent...

Regarding Gilbert:

        "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." (238)

        The rose of love made the blossom of friendship pale and scentless by 
     contrast. (240)

        "I don't want sunbursts and marble halls. I just want you. You see I'm 
     quite as shameless as Phil about it. Sunbursts and marble halls may be all 
     very well, but there is 'scope for the imagination' without them. And as for 
     the waiting, that doesn't matter. We'll just be happy. Waiting and working 
     for each other--and dreaming. Oh, dreams will be very sweet now." (243)

This was the outcome for which I had hoped...

What is your reaction to this third book in the Green Gables series? Join us in this Reeder Reads read-along! I do believe L.M. Montgomery to be one of my absolute favorite writers EVER!!

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.