Daily Book Excerpt: YA/children’s books:
Next book on the shelf is Anne of Green Gables (Modern Library Classics)
Buh-bye, Madeleine. Hello, Lucy Maud. Two of my obsessions back to back. Life is good. By the way, I went to Amazon to find a link to the book “Anne of Green Gables” – just flat out the book – just THE BOOK – and literally had a hard time finding a link to it. It has been so taken over – I;’ve seen copies of it that are abridged – ABRIDGED – it’s not a long book to begin with!! Or dumbed-down vocabulary versions – for kids who have never heard of a dictionary. There are also Anne of Green Gables cookbooks, and journals, and audio books – and look, fine, you people are making a ton of money off of this industry, while Lucy Maud sleeps peacefully (God willing – and God knows she deserved it, after her miserable life) in her grave – but at LEAST let the first link on your stupid page be a link to, you know, THE ACTUAL BOOK THAT STARTED THIS WHOLE THING. HER book, not your dumbass abridged versions, or your dumbed-down “my first classics” versions. How ’bout giving me a link to HER BOOK? The one that compelled Mark Twain (MARK TWAIN) to write her a letter and say that “Anne is one of the immortal girls of literature, just like Alice …” How ’bout that? I was pissed off scrolling through until page 9 or 10 to find a straight link to her actual book – with no doo-dads of gee-gaws or bric-a-brac added to it.
I got a comment rom an irate Canadian when I said I loved this book – this was long ago on this blog. The irate Canadian wrote in mostly caps: “YOU LIKED THIS BOOK? Canadians HATE this book!” I said to the irate Canadian that although it is hard to believe, I do not choose my beloved books using the criteria: Whether Or Not Canadians Would Approve.
The importance of this book in my life runs on multiple levels – first of all, it’s flat out a great book. Anne is an amazing character – a complete original – I mean, once you meet that girl, you can never EVER forget her. She is emblazoned upon my brain. And it’s also one of those books where – certain episodes seem to never fade from my mind. It’s an episodic book – of the kind people don’t really write anymore – and some of the episodes are now considered classic:
Anne dyeing her hair green
Anne getting Diana drunk by accident
The mouse drowned in the pudding
Smashing her slate over Gilbert’s head when he calls her “carrot top”
Puffed sleeves
I mean, I could go on and on. L.M. Montgomery has woven some sort of spell – you literally watch this girl grow and change – You love her SO much, and there are times when you laugh out loud at some of the problems she causes, or some of the things she does – but … it’s never cute, or too moralistic, or too NEAT. Anne is strictly a human girl. She’s not a lesson-to-be-taught, she’s not a symbol. She LIVES.
Basically, the plot is: Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert are an elderly brother and sister, who live on a farm on Prince Edward Island. Their house is called Green Gables. They are in their 60s, and they figure they need some help on the farm – so they send to an orphanage for a young boy. They could raise him properly, but mainly – he could grow up to be a perpetual hired hand,. Some sort of fatal error occurs, the message is mixed up – and a girl is sent. A young fantasist with long carrot-orange braids – named Anne Shirley. An orphan. Who has had a hard-knock life so far, being shuffled about as a servant girl in horrible situations. A brou-haha ensues. Marilla is strict, stern (what an awesome character she is, huh??) … eventually, of course, Anne stays.
The story is also about – how love can transform you. Marilla and Matthew find themselves LOVING this girl. For Matthew it is easy to love her. He is quiet, shy, kind, and just basically falls in love with Anne immediately. Marilla is a bit of a tougher nut to crack. “What use would she be to us???” she says sternly to Matthew. Matthew replies, ‘We might be of some use to her.”
So Anne stays.
This is a classic book of literature – even with all the brou-haha surrounding it – even with the INDUSTRY now devoted to keeping the Anne of Green Gables thing going – come hell or high water … It’s a classic book. Mark Twain was right. Anne Shirley is one of the “immortals”.
Also, it’s Lucy Maud’s first novel. Way to hit it out of the park, LM.
One of the funniest parts of the book is watching Marilla – strict practical Marilla – try to deal with Anne … especially in the beginning. Marilla has never been married, she doesn’t have experience with kids anyway … but this type of child? The type of child who lives in a fantasy world and who literally can talk for 20 minutes straight without a pause? Marilla has a hard time with that.
Here’s an excerpt from the beginning of the book. Anne has just arrived. There is the brou-haha over her gender. Anne stays at Green Gables until the mistake can be sorted out. Marilla realizes, through experiencing Anne a bit, that she is almost a primitive child – like: she has not been brought up at ALL. She has all sorts of heathen-ish ideas about God and prayer – she hates church – she makes no bones about saying anything that pops into her head OUT LOUD … so Marilla decides this child needs to be brought up proper, so she lets Anne stay. (Of course – you already get the idea that there are unplumbed depths in Marilla … that perhaps this little redheaded witch has started to melt her down a bit … )
This excerpt is where she tried (TRIES) to teach Anne to pray properly. She gives Anne a little card with a prayer on it and tells her to learn it by heart. Watch how Marilla desperately tries to deal with Anne … it’s so funny, in a way. Marilla is so stern and practical – and Anne just babbles on and on as though Marilla will completely understand what she is talking about …. It’s hysterical, too, because the mere FACT that Marilla does not interrupt some of these long long monologues, shows that she gets sucked in in spite of herself.
Excerpt from Anne of Green Gables (Modern Library Classics)
Anne set the card up against the jugful of apple blossoms she had brought in to decorate the dinner-table — Marilla had eyed that decoration askance, but had said nothing — propped her chin on her hands, and fell to studying it intently for several silent minutes.
“I like this,” she announced at length. “It’s beautiful. I’ve heard it before — I heard the superintendent of the asylum Sunday-school say it over once. But I didn’t like it then. He had such a cracked voice and he prayed it so mournfully. I really felt sure he thought praying was a disagreeable duty. This isn’t poetry, but it makes me feel just the same way poetry does. ‘Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy name.’ That is just like a line of music. Oh, I’m so glad you thought of making me learn this, Miss — Marilla.”
“Well, learn it and hold your tongue,” said Marilla shortly.
Anne tipped the vase of apple blossoms near enough to bestow a soft kiss on a pink-cupped bud, and then studied diligently for some moments longer.
“Marilla,” she demanded presently, “do you think that I shall ever have a bosom friend in Avonela?”
“A — a what kind of a friend?”
“A bosom friend — an intimate friend, you know — a really kindred spirit to whom I confide my inmost soul. I’ve dreamed of meeting her all my life. I never really supposed I would, but so many of my loveliest dreams have come true all at once that perhaps this one will, too. Do you think it’s possible?”
“Diana Barry lives over at Orchard Slope and she’s about your age. She’s a very nice little girl, and perhaps she will be a playmate for you when she comes home. She’s visiting her aunt over at Carmody just now. You’ll have to be careful how you behave yourself, though. Mrs. Barry is a very particular woman. She won’t let Diana play with any little girl who isn’t nice and good.”
Anne looked at Marilla through the apple blossoms, her eyes aglow with interest.
“What is Diana like? Her hair isn’t red, is it? Oh, I hope not. It’s bad enough to have red hair myself, but I positively couldn’t endure it in a bosom friend.”
“Diana is a very pretty little girl. She has black eyes and hair and rosy cheeks. And she is good and smart, which is better than being pretty.”
Marilla was as fond of morals as the Duchess in Wonderland, and was firmly convinced that one should be tacked on to every remark made to a child who was being brought up.
But Anne waved the moral inconsequently aside and seized only on the delightful possibilities before it.
“Oh, I’m so glad she’s pretty. Next to being beautiful oneself — and that’s impossible in my case — it would be best to have a beautiful bosom friend. When I lived with Mrs. Thomas she had a bookcase in her sitting room with glass doors. There weren’t any books in it; Mrs. Thomas kept her best china and her preserves there — when she had any preserves to keep. One of the doors was broken. Mr. Thomas smashed it one night when he was slightly intoxicated. But the other was whole and I used to pretend that my reflection in it was another little girl who lived in it. I called her Katie Maurice, and we were very intimate. I used to talk to her by the hour, especially on Sunday, and tell her everything. Katie was the comfort and consolation of my life. We used to pretend that the bookcase was enchanted and that if I only knew the spell I could open the door and step right into the room where Katie Maurice lived, instead of into Mrs. Thomas’ shelves of preserves and china. And then Katie Maurice would have taken me by the hand and led me out into a wonderful place, all flowers and sunshine and fairies, and we would have lived there happy for ever after. When I went to live with Mrs. Hammond it just broke my heart to leave Katie Maurice. She felt it dreadfully, too, I know she did, for she ewas crying when she kissed me good-bye through the bookcase door. There was no bookcase at Mrs. Hammond’s. But just up the river a little way from the house there was a long green little valley, and the loveliest echo lived there. It echoed back every word you said, even if you didn’t talk a bit loud. So I imagined that it was a little girl called Violetta and we were great friends and I loved her almost as well as I loved Katie Maurice — not quite, but almost, you know. The night before I went to the asylum I said good-bye to Violetta, and oh, her good-bye came back to me in such sad, sad tones. I had become so attached to her that I hadn’t the heart to imagine a bosom friend at that asylum, even if there had been any scope for imagination there.”
“I think it’s just as well there wasn’t,” said Marilla drily. “I don’t approve of such goings-on. You seem to half believe your own imaginations. It will be well for you to have a real live friend to put such nonsense out of your head. But don’t let Mrs. Barry hear you talking about your Katie Maurices and your Violettas or she’ll think you tell stories.”
“Oh, I won’t. I couldn’t talk of them to everybody — their memories are too sacred for that. But I thought I’d like to have you know about them. Oh, look, here’s a big bee just tumbled out of an apple blossom. Just think what a lovely place to live — in an apple blossom! Fancy going to sleep in it when the wind was rocking it. If I wasn’t a human girl I think I’d like to be a bee and live among the flowers.”
“Yesterday you wanted to be a sea gull,” sniffed Marilla. “I think you are very fickle minded. I told you to learn that prayer and not talk. But it seems impossible for you to stop talking if you’ve got anybody that will listen to you. So go up to your room and learn it.”
“Oh, I know it pretty nearly all now — all but the last line.”
“Well, never mind, do as I tell you. Go to your room and finish learning it well, and stay there until I call you down to help me get tea.”
“Can I take the apple blossoms with me for company?” pleaded Anne.
“No; you don’t want your room cluttered up with flowers. You should have left them on the tree in the first place.”
“I did feel a little that way, too,” said Anne. “I kind of felt I shouldn’t shorten their lovely lives by picking them — I wouldn’t want to be picked if I were an apple blossom. But the temptation was irresistible. What do you do when you meet with an irresistible temptation?”
“Anne, did you hear me tell you to go to your room?”
Anne sighed, retreated to the east gable, and sat down in a chair by the window.
“There — I know this prayer. I learned that last sentence coming upstairs. Now I’m going to imagine things into this room so that they’ll always stay imagined. The floor is covered with a white velvet carpet with pink roses all over it and there are pink silk curtains at the windows. The walls are hung with gold and silver brocade tapestry. The furniture is mahogany. I never saw any mahogany, but it does sound so luxurious. This is a couch all heaped with gorgeous silken cushions, pink and blue and crimson and gold, and I am reclining gracefully on it. I can see my reflection in that splendid big mirror hanging on the wall. I am tall and regal, clad in a gown of trailing white lace, with a pearl cross on my breast and pearls in my h air. My hair is of midnight darkness and my skin is a clear ivory pallor. My name is the Lady Cordelia Fitzgerald. No, it isn’t — I can’t make that seem real.”
She danced up to the little looking-glass and peered into it. Her pointed freckled face and solemn gray eyes peered back at her.
“You’re only Anne of Green Gables,” she said earnestly, “and I see you, just as you are looking now, whenever I try to imagine I’m the Lady Cordelia. But it’s a million times nicer to be Anne of Green Gables than Anne of nowhere in particular, isn’t it?”
She bent forward, kissed her reflection affectionately, and betook herself to the open window.
“Dear Snow Queen, good afternoon. And good afternoon, dear birches down in the hollow. And good afternoon, dear gray house on the hill. I wonder if Diana is to be my bosom friend. I hope she will, and I shall love her very much. But I must never quite forget Katie Maurice and Violetta. They would feel so hurt if I did and I’d hate to hurt anybody’s feelings, even a little bookcase girl’s or a little echo girl’s. I must be careful to remember them and send them a kiss every day.”
Anne blew a couple of airy kisses from her fingertips past the cherry blossoms and then, with her chin in her hands, drifted luxuriously out on a sea of daydreams.
I love that section. Poor Marilla – “A — a what kind of a friend?”
So much in that book to love. I think I need to read it again.
OH – and I really can’t wait til you get to good ol’ Pat…heh heh.
hahahaha you know, I thought of you this morning as I was looking over my LM books and saw the stupid old Pat books. hahahaha
I know, and I love Marilla’s pause … like: “Uhm … bosom? As in … breasts? As in … WHAT????”
Marilla kills me. Matthew kills me even more.
Oh Matthew…he just breaks my heart. I love him so much…
And I have to laugh – I’ve been reading all the “Red’s Books” posts, of course, and it just didn’t occur to me that Lucy Maud was next. Duh. So this morning when I saw “Anne of Green Gables” it was like this happy surprise. Nice way to start a Friday!
I cannot believe it …. I’ve never read any of these books. What the hell was wrong with my childhood??
Please don’t ban me from your blog. ;-)
Tracey!! It’s never too late! I personally think you will flip OUT. :)
Jayne – sadly, I threw out all of my Trixie Beldens long ago.
I wish I still had some of them – I really do.
I mean, the books about Anne. You know. Gah.
Sheila – hahaha! And sadly, I think I still have all of mine. Maybe I should do a “Jayne’s Books That Red Also Used To Own But Doesn’t Any More” post every day. I think the Trixie Belden series went to around 30-some books?
Here’s the frightening part: Book 1
“Oh Moms,” Trixie wailed, running her fingers through her short sandy curls, “I’ll just die if I don’t have a horse!”
“You declared you’d suffer the same fate if your father and I didn’t buy you a bike three years ago, remember?”
Fortunately for everyone, that’s as far as I get on memory alone.
HAHAHAHA Ohmigod, the memories are now swirling. Yes!!
I actually still have the parody short story you wrote about Trixie. Trixie and most of her siblings were all adults – but Bobby remained 6 years old??
Somehow, miraculously, I never read the book. I was, however, fanatically devoted to the film as a young girl. My assessment of “the facts” upon watching it the first time was that redheads are naturally odd and precocious and dramatic and that, therefore, I was not strange at all. I was just like a redhead was SUPPOSED to be. Anne was my proof of this. I found it immensely reassuring.
So I will have to add that to my neverending list of things I must read. I have always heard that the film is relatively faithful to the book, but I am long overdue for “meeting” the original characters in their native habitat.
Incedentally – I have read that there is a sort of cult following for Anne of Green Gables in Japan. Ever heard of this?
Marissa – If you go to visit Prince Edward Island, 99% of the tourists are Japanese.
And I loved the mini-series (except when they totally changed shit at the tail-end of it … like: Anne never published a novel. What?) … But still: I thought they were very faithful to the book – and not just plot-wise. They got the SPIRIT of those books. I thought Megan Follows – that was her name, right? – was wonderful. She had that desperate SERIOUSNESS that Anne has – which is why Anne is so funny.
I wrote that? I don’t even remember!! You sure it was me?
I remember YOUR parody…the romance of Trixie and Jim…a little bit racier than the very tame stuff in the books.
I also have little bits of some of the books, just little phrases or lines, floating around in my head, and unexpectedly they will appear, and I will think about “jingling the roof of our see-crud clubhouse” or something equally bizarre.
Jayne – yup, it was you. You wrote it when you were in college and sent it to me. It was a mix of Trixie Belden and Sam Spade, I believe. Let me see if I can find it – I still think I have it. It’s hiLARious. It’s like time has moved on – but Bobby stays the same age.
Oh, and yes – my TriXXXie Belden series got me banned from a certain household.
Now – your parody, of course, can’t hold a candle to your whole “needles in the teeth” series … but let’s be honest: what can??
OH YEAH!! Now I remember!! How funny….
Maybe I should go digging through my boxes and see if I can find “needles in the teeth”…(which has to be said with one’s fingers in one’s mouth, indicating not only where the needles were placed, but also how wide they made the mouth stay open).
And – what certain household??? I have a guess, but not sure…can you give me a hint??
Jayne – hahahaha sitting in the cafeteria, demonstrating how the “needles in the teeth” kept the mouth open. HILARIOUS.
As tutor to students with disabilities, I feel compelled to mention that abridged books provide a great service tokids who would never, ever be able to enjoy such tales as Anne of Green Gables. There is a place for “dumbed down” versions, as you put it…such versions of classics are a blessing to many. Lucky are the readers who don’t need abridged versions.
Think about it.
I do agree that the original version should be the first book listed on Amazon.
Susan
Hey! I will be on “the island” in a few weeks for my annual trip — the Japanese interest comes from the fact that “the book” is used extensively in their schools to teach English — it’s kind of funny when you are there – the government built a house to replicate Green Gables and a lot of the tourists begin to think that Anne was a real person etc.. etc.. etc.. People will actually fly from Japan to get married at Green Gables.
And Red – MANY Canadian love Anne and Lucy Maud too!
Susan – that is a great point about those abridged books, and I thank you for that. it is a great thing that people with disabilities can also enjoy the spirit of these wonderful books.
But seriously – I shouldn’t have to SEARCH on Amazon for what is a classic. Get the REAL version up in front on Amazon. Not the abridged one, or the CD of music inspired by the prose of Lucy Maud, or the china set inspired by the tea scene in Book 1 or whatever. I mean, I’m very psyched for Lucy Maud, I love that she has had this resurgence. Without it I don’t think all the volumes of her journals would have been published, and GOD, I just LOVE those journals. Amazing!! She had fame during her life – she definitely was recognized and very successful during her lifetime – but the Lucy Maud industry does forget, at times, that there were ACTUAL books that were written by an ACTUAL person. It is now a self-sustaining industry – they probably sit in little meetings and say, “Hmmm, sales are dropping … let’s come out with a line of red hair dye inspired by Anne Shirley” or whatever, and also (I hate this the most) you get books that are “inspired by” Lucy Maud rather than actually by her – and I find that offensive. These books are not by Lucy Maud. These are by some second-rate writer capitalizing on the fame of someone who already did the work. And 100 times better. It’s similar to what has happened (and God forgive me for the comparison I am about to make!! hahahaha – this is so bad – but here goes!!) to the VC Andrews books. I am NOT comparing Flowers in the Attic or whatever to Lucy Maud – but there are STILL books coming out by Andrews and it is now 30 years after her death or whatever. And yet there on the cover it says “VC Andrews”. Because anything wiht her name on it is gonna make a million bucks on it.
So no, I do not like it to be forgotten that there was an actual author named Lucy Maud, and that her books are awesome, in and of themselves.
Dave – I think maybe I found the only irate Canadian then! hahaha It was a funny exchange.
I had heard about people flying from Japan for weddings and stuff on PEI. I love that!! Seriously, it’s like: if Lucy Maud could only see it now …
She wrote eloquently, though, in her journal about the fan mail she would get from all over the world. Like – a little Muslim girl from India wrote to her thanking her “for Anne” – and it blew Lucy Maud away. How far her novel had traveled.
Beautiful!!
Oh – and Dave – I am JEALOUS about your upcoming trip!!!
I went on a trip for high school graduation (two years after the fact) with my grandparents to PEI. We took the train from Montreal, then rented a car in New Brunswick and drove to the island, staying in a cottage. We visited all the Anne sites, which were great, but really the island itself is a wonderful place. I can understand why Maud and her characters loved it so much. And our landlord’s wife was a distant cousin–she remembered Maud coming over for tea with her mother!
I really love Anne, but Rilla the The Blue Castle are probably my favorites of her books.
Harriet – I love the landlord’s wife story!
Oh man – The Blue Castle!! That’s my favorite of all of her books, too! One of her least known, too. But isn’t it magical?
Lucy Maud always felt that Rilla of Ingleside was her best book. I can’t find my copy goldurnit – so I just ordered it this morning.
This is gonna be fun … hangin’ out with Lucy Maud fans for a couple weeks while I go through these books!!
the Island is great – although I did almost get beat by a potato farmer for calling him spud-boy — but that was after he called be an uppity Upper Canadian!
Oh man! Regional tensions abound!!! Is it wrong that I laughed out loud at “spud boy”?
you wouldn’t be able to get away with it on PEI!
but he was a potato farmer for pete’s sake! he was in fact a spud-boy!!!
I come from a long long line of spud-boys, so I’m okay with it. :)
I’m a fellow huge LM Montgomery fan, and I can’t wait to read what you have to say about each of her books. As much as I love LMM, I am definitely looking forward to the Pat of Silver Bush beat-down.
When do we get to the journals? Until I saw your post about them I had no idea they existed. Now I’m a third of the way through Volume 3. You’ve pointed me towards many good books in the last couple of years, but these journals are really special. Thank you!
I’m SO excited for the next couple of weeks. My Anne of Green Gables copy is really worn at the spine from reading it so often. I re-read that book, Daddy Long Legs, and To Kill A Mockingbird usually at least once a year. The Anne series is comfort food to me. I relax when I’m reading it.
Re: the mini-series. I liked the first one they did, but when they did the second one, too many amalgams… like the father of one of her students. I liked the purity of the first mini-series.
Sheila, remember when we were talking about the books one time, and you named the CHAPTER (Round of Life or something) where the incident happened? Or when I said very seriously, “What was his name? I know his dog’s name was Carlo…”
That is insane. :-)
I love the Anne books, but not quite as much as I love the Emily books. Rilla is my favorite Anne book- just re-read it last week.
Oh, and if you need a Trixie reference, my daughter is working up a collection of the re-releases…. (I read a couple, and they don’t hold up as well as the Anne books, though)
I know there is nothing quite like holding a book in your lap while you read but I found this resource:
http://www.literature.org/authors/montgomery-lucy-maud/
Karen – I am SO pleased you are reading the journals! They’re phenomenal, aren’;t they? Really sad – I had a ton of revelations about Lucy Maud as an artist when I read those journals. Her books are, with all of their tragedies and sadnesses – in general they are happy books. Her life was so sad. Or – I think her temperament was a sad one. Her life was no sadder than many others – but she seemed to take things soooo hard. And none of that goes into her books. It seems to me that her books were literally an act of will. She was able to imagine herself into a better world. She created Anne Shirley – who was able to lead the way FOR her. Truly amazing. I was even more admiring of her as a writer after I read the journals, and read how she struggled with such unremitting depression and despair.
Because I’m so obsessive about my genres in my bookshelves – the journals go in my Memoir section – which I’ll get to later.
Last year I finally got my hands on the last volume of the journals – I think it’s the fifth volume. You watch as she literally became a broken mute woman. Her entries get shorter and shorter, and they are either about the weather – or her aches and pains – or brief statements like: “How can I go on living?” They are wrenching to read. Especially when you realize that all through that time she was still writing her books … The Pat books (which are awful) were written during those later years – and although I think they’re terrible books, just the fact that she was able to write them is kind of a triumph. You can feel her struggle in the pages, I think. She’s still trying to find the magic, still trying to create a world that will be an escape from her agony.
I am so thrilled you’re reading them!
anne with an e — i have the whole series. pull it out for a good read often. my friend jonas’ mom and sister used to watch the series religiously each year, and so he’d start in with the ‘don’t get me started on kindred spirits and chrysanthemums!’
trixie belden — my mom had the whole series, had me read them, and then gave them to a family friend for her daughter [the family friend had just been diagnosed with breast cancer]. still, miss those books.
Oh Sheila, thank you, thank you, thank you! I love Anne of Green Gables. I read the book when I was you elementary school, and fell in love with the story. I watched without fail when the mini-series aired, and when they had one of those marathons not too long ago to raise money for the station, I sat through two days of Anne and her dear Marilla and Matthew, and Diana, and her wonderful Gilbert, and all the other wonderful characters. I have the books and videos on my “wish list”, so hopefully someday I’ll have the whole collection of this wonderful classic. =)
sorry, that should be “in” instead of “you”. My mind was racing, and my fingers could not catch up!
Amanda – ha! I could FEEL your excitement~!
These are such beloved books – I love meeting people who loved them as well. The next couple of weeks are gonna be fun!! I haven’t read any of them in a long while!
Oh, and Ann Marie:
We recognized that we were kindred spirits that night! I remember you saying the damn words “Sophie Sinclair” and I thought my head would freakin’ explode. From Windy Poplars, member? hahahahahaha
Oh, so exhilarating! And yes – his dog’s name was Carlo. I think his name was Teddy. And he had a gruff mean father. Who was only gruff and mean cause his wife died. And then Teddy died. Leaving only mean gruff father and dog Carlo. sniff, sniff.
That was from Windy Poplars as well.
Wonderful review of a wonderful book. I was introduced to Anne first by my sister in law (to be) through the Wonderworks movie staring Megan Follows and promptly went and checked out the rest of the series from the library and read them. Anne is one of my most favorite heroines, if not THE favorite, of all time. I have to credit my partiality to red heads to dear Anne…and my regular use of the words “kindred spirit”…such a perfect phrase to describe, well…kindred spirits!!! ;)
These are such wonderful books…I would hate to think that all Canadians hate these books…shows remarkably bad taste! ;)
I rather think that I resent that person who said that Canadians hate Anne. They’re giving a bad image of our country. The least they could do is say that SOME Canadians hate Anne. Pfft.
I’ve noticed the same thing while searching for Montgomery on almost any book website. It’s really rather sad. Hopefully people actually get into bookstores in order to purchase Anne stuff instead of possibly not getting the real book.
That irate Canadian was wrong to spea on behalf of all Canadians. I am a Canadian and can tell you that this is one of my most favourite books just as the musical is my favourite musical and just as the tv series is a favourite tv series. This book is amazing, irresistible to say the least.