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This book opens with Anne getting married to Gilbert Blythe. It follows directly on from the previous book, ‘Anne of Windy Willows’, which I reread last month. Gilbert has finished his medical training, and Anne has given up her teaching post; as a woman in Canada a hundred years ago, she would no longer work outside the home once she was married. She liked teaching, but she’s glad to have given it up.
The wedding scenes are nicely done, and we meet some old friends who are delighted to see the happy couple married at last. Then the two set off for their new home, sixty miles or so away, where Gilbert has been appointed as the local doctor. He’s found a house, which he has described to Anne in detail, but she hasn’t seen it until this point.
Anne falls in love with the house immediately, as Gilbert knows she will, and gradually starts to turn it into the kind of home where she is comfortable, and can entertain. The only disadvantage, as far as Anne is concerned, is that there are no immediate neighbours. But they slowly get to know some of the other locals; in particular the outspoken Miss Cornelia, and the old sailor known as Captain Jim.
Then there’s Leslie, who doesn’t live far away, and is not much older than Anne; but she seems resentful, unwilling to be friendly at first. Anne realises she’s hurting inside, and full of envy, and one of the most interesting threads in this book (in my view) is the way they gradually develop a deep friendship.
There are a lot of different storylines in this book, and I have to admit to some skimming. As with other books in the series, people Anne meets like to tell their stories, and those of the neighbours. Each one by itself might be somewhat interesting, but I find the endless digressions and complex storylines a distraction from the main plot: that of Anne and Gilbert in their first few years of marriage.
The writing is good, if rather rambling, and the descriptions nicely done. Anne is a three dimensional person, still inside the same Anne that she was as a child in ‘Anne of Green Gables’. But she’s matured, and developed, and learned a great deal about people since Matthew and Marilla adopted her. She has learned to be more tactful and to temper some of her enthusiasms. But she remains thoughtful, imaginative and kind.
Leslie, too, is an interesting character full of courage and loyalty despite some awful circumstances which Anne only gradually learns about. I found, towards the end of the book that I remembered some of her story, and how it concludes; it’s a very satisfying ending.
Anne’s apparently charmed life has a poignant, tragic section which I had also remembered about; something that perhaps helps her understand others better although it seems a strange incident to include in what is still, essentially, a book for teenagers. But a hundred years ago it wasn’t such an unusual happening though I remember being shocked the first time I read it; I couldn’t believe the author would have included something so awful.
But it’s part of the reality of life in that era - as such the book good from the social history point of view, describing day-to-day activities and experiences from the point of view of someone who was living at that time. There's even a bit of humour here and there, with rivalries between political parties ('Tories' and 'Grits') and even between the Methodists and the Presbyterians, although I didn't entirely understand why two Christian denominations would be so exclusive.
All in all I liked this book - even if I skimmed a few of the extraneous stories and descriptions - and look forward to reading the sixth in the series next month. Recommended to teens and adults who like this kind of thing; but it's best read after at least some of the earlier books in the series.
This book, like others in the series, remains regularly in print; it can often be found second-hand, too. And as it's now out of copyright, it can also be downloaded free in electronic form from Project Gutenberg.
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