Reviewed by Sarah Hofhine
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES is a masterpiece of character. Firstly is Anne herself. Who wouldn’t love a redheaded orphan who breaks slates over boys heads and insists upon proper spelling of her name even in moments of life-changing stakes? She’s feisty and imaginative and impulsive and loving. She lives in a world of dreams and imaginations. She creates beautiful little fancies about everything in her world; trees, houses, ponds, people she sees. She gets into ‘scrapes’ (love that word!) all the time. In Anne L.M. Montgomery has created a character so rich and charismatic that I feel I know her; she must really, truly exist in some universe somewhere. I envy her ‘bosom friend’ Diana – I want to be Anne’s best friend.
The other characters in the series are equally compelling. Marilla and Matthew, the couple to whom Anne is mistakenly sent, are vivid and loveable. Marilla is as brusque and stiff as Matthew is shy and loving. Neighbor Rachel Lynde is a hard-working, upright matriarch with an almost omniscient knowledge of everyone in the community and their doings. And then there is the most dreamy of all heroes, Gilbert Blythe. *Swoon.*
L.M. Montgomery wrote a total of 9 books about Anne and her family, 8 of which were published during her lifetime. The ninth, “The Blythes Are Quoted,” was finished shortly before her death and published in 2009. I have not yet read the newly published work but I highly recommend reading the entire series; Anne’s children are as captivating as she is.
Anne of Green Gables is a literary gem, a true classic not to be missed.
Market: Children’s Literature
Language: None
Sensuality: None
Violence: None
Mature Themes: Abandonment, abuse, death, war (later books in the series). All handled very tastefully.
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