REVIEW ( ANNE OF GREEN GABLES)

Vlasiichuk Olia. ФІЛ-19-1.1

Between 1909 and 1939, Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote seven books about an
imaginative, talkative, high-spirited heroine named Anne Shirley, beginning with this
one. Set in the tiny years of the 20th century, in the tiny Canadian province of Prince
Edward Island, on a farm near the (fictitious) tiny town of Avonlea, Anne of Green
Gables is the most popular book in the series. In its first hundred years of existence, it
has become firmly established as a classic of children’s literature. And no wonder. It
is pure joy to read. From the first moment she appears, Anne is a delightful
companion for the imagination of any child, or any adult who still has one.

When we first meet Anne, she is a tiny, thin, pale orphan with bright red hair in
braids. Sweet-natured, cheerful, vivacious – well, let’s be honest, she’s downright
chatty – Anne has an eye for beauty and a vibrant inner life full of quirky imaginings.
But she’s had a rough first eleven years or so. Bounced from one foster family to
another, each of whom treated her as hired help, she has at last landed in a bleak, city
orphanage in her native Nova Scotia.

Along come a shy old bachelor farmer named Matthew Cuthbert and his spinster
sister Marilla. They decide to adopt a boy to help them around the farm, and to take
over when they get too old to work. In a bizarre mixup involving an adoption by
proxy, a boat, and a train, poor Matthew is surprised to find a redheaded girl waiting
for him at the station. He is too tongue-tied to tell her she isn’t wanted. So he drives
her home and listens to her talk, murmuring “Well now, I dunno” now and then when
an answer seems required. And he falls right in love with her imagination and her
spirit, right there in an open buggy on the road to Avonlea. By the time they get home
to Green Gables farm, Matthew hasn’t the heart to tell her she must be sent back to
the orphanage.

When he thought of that rapt light being quenched in her eyes he had an
uncomfortable feeling that he was going to assist at murdering something – much the
same feeling that came over him when he had to kill a lamb or calf or any other
innocent little creature.

Marilla Cuthbert is another story. Stern and severe in her Calvinist thrift and
discipline, she considers feelings of warmth and tenderness almost shameful things,
things to be overcome or at least hidden. Nevertheless, Matthew prevails on Marilla,
in his slow persistent way, to let Anne stay with them. Marilla quickly takes charge of
the girl’s upbringing and begins trying to rein in her flights of fancy and her appetite
for pretty fripperies. The relationship that develops between them is fascinating,
funny, and frequently touching.

The book follows Anne through her primary-school and high-school years. It situates
her childhood in the idyllic country surroundings of rural P.E.I., in a small, close-knit
community where neighbors talk to each other over the fence. It details her dreams
and adventures in the woods and meadows around Green Gables, her friendships and
enmities with local girls and boys – most particularly Gilbert Blythe, who seems
destined to win her heart someday, though for several years she refuses to speak to
him or of him. It depicts the sparkle of a winning personality who overcomes every
heart set against her, from the nosy, know-it-all Mrs. Rachel Lynde across the road to
the strict mother and great-aunt of her bosom friend Diana Barry. And though the
merry mischief in her matures and mellows, it is never quenched.

Prepare to laugh at Anne’s blunders and accidents. Prepare to grip the book with
white fingers as she gets into scrapes and misunderstandings. Prepare to be captivated
by an effortless flow of beautiful imagery, delicate humor, and swift-paced narrative.
L. M. Montgomery’s prose reminds me of Austen, but in more modern language; or
perhaps Dickens, but with a faster cadence, leaner style, and brighter outlook on the
world. It’s good-humored writing about a uniquely marvelous, good-humored
heroine.

I am so glad to have met her. I urge you to make her acquaintance soon. This is a
book I will always fondly associate with wonderful days of reading, securing its place
in my heart forever.