TITLE: Anne of the IslandAUTHOR: L.M. Montgomery
STARTED: September 26, 2008
FINISHED: September 30, 2008
PAGES: 243
GENRE: Juvenile
FIRST SENTENCE: "Harvest is ended and summer is gone," quoted Anne Shirley, gazing across the shorn fields dreamily.
SUMMARY: [From barnesandnoble.com] Anne Shirley is all grown up and ready to embark on her college career at Redmond. She is torn between leaving her beloved Prince Edward Island and the childhood haunts that have been home for so many years. Anne quickly, yet almost reluctantly, becomes accustomed to life at Redmond; she and old friend Priscilla fall into friendship with socialite Phillippa Gordon. The trio pal around with P.E.I. boys Charlie Stone and Gilbert Blythe, who both appear to have their intentions set on marriage to Anne. Gilbert has long been Anne's childhood chum and remains Anne's old standby at Redmond. Gilbert and Anne are nearly inseparable. Marriage is assumed to be a certainty by those on P.E.I. and at Redmond—until Anne rebuffs his advances and rejects his proposal of marriage. Anne finds joy in her homey college cottage, "Patty's Place," which she shares with her dear friends. The girls cope with proposals, boys, and college life as Anne finds that romance and love may not be what she had expected.
THOUGHTS: At first blush, this book was not a fantastic read for me. I enjoyed it, sure, but it did not give me that "Oh my goodness, why did I not read this as a kid!" feeling. Then, during book club, as we were talking about the novel, I just recalled the high number of emotional reactions I had to the story. I still maintain that I do not mind missing this as a child, but I'm glad I've caught up with Anne now - at least this one time.
For me, Anne of the Island comes to me in a series of vignettes. The story is good, but singular moments in the story is what makes me think fondly of the story. The cats, Anne wearing Gilbert's flowers, the marriage proposals - all of these scenes caused me to react in some way. There were numerous scenes in this book that made me giggle, smile, or scoff as a read. The more noise I make out loud, the more likely I am to think of the book after I've read it. Anne is not a girl I desire to be, but her story is fun. I'm sure I would have enjoyed reading this more if I had read it as a child - or read the first two books in the series - but I liked this book enough to actually think about reading the other parts of the series.
RATING: 7/10 [Very Good]
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