One Bear's Opinion -- Book Review

Anne of Avonlea
Anne of the Island
by L.M. Montgomery

I am going to review these two books together as they are a continuing story. The story began in Anne of Green Gables, but I find that book can stand alone better than these two can. Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island are the rest of the story of Anne Shirley’s growing up. She starts working as a teacher in Anne of Avonlea and then goes off to university in Anne of the Island. Most people these days do that in the reverse order, but it was a different time and a different place so there are differences as compared to modern lives.

I have read these books before, and this re-read was sparked by events happening in the real world. I needed an escape, and a visit with old friends was just the escape I needed. My visits with Anne and her friends and family through the books were satisfying and exactly what I wanted to do a reset of my own personal world. The innocent time and innocent love story between Anne and Gilbert were a perfect antidote to the poison of the modern world. Plum puffs may not be able to minister to a mind diseased and a world that’s crumbling into pieces, but Anne and her friends can.

Anne of Avonlea is the story of Anne’s time spent teaching at the Avonlea school. It also details some of her still girlish teen-age adventures with her friends. New characters are introduced and changes are made in Anne’s world, but they are welcome characters and natural changes. Anne is growing up and the book reflects that.

Anne of the Island chronicles Anne’s life at Redmond College in Kingsport, Nova Scotia. New characters fill the book, though familiar ones are still there. It’s just like life, new people come into our lives at different points and some stay for just a little while, while others stay for a lifetime. Some of the new friends are quite fleeting, while others are lifelong friends of Anne. At the same time, old friends return with altered relationships, and others leave.

The books can get a bit rambly, and some of the episodes feel as though they were padding or tales that needed to go somewhere, but on the whole the books are fun and delightful to read. L.M. Montgomery never fails to entertain in her books, and there is a wholesome realness that permeates the novels. Anne and her friends are real, and they will definitely become the readers’ friends.

The story arc ends satisfactorily. By the end of Anne of the Island, “God’s in His Heaven; and all’s right with the world.” I will admit though, I cheated a bit and sneakily read the first few chapters of Anne of Windy Poplars to truly finish this part of Anne’s story. I felt a bit bad doing it, but not so bad that I would not do it again.

The Anne series is well worth reading if you have not yet, and it stands up to numerous re-reads if you have already read it through. And when the world is collapsing around you, it’s just the kind of read you need.

One Bear’s Opinion: Five glasses of red currant wine with slices of Averil’s cake (made with Rollings Reliable Baking Powder)

Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver