Anne With An E

Hello all, I hope you are all getting ready to enjoy a wonderful weekend.  I know I am, I get to spend it in New York!!!!!!  The weather here is amazing and springlike and that of course means it is time to drag out my spring books (finally!)  This year my first spring book is an oldie but goodie, Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery.  This book has been a favorite of mine for years and may be the reason I have an undying love for red hair.  As always SPOILERS AHEAD!

We'll get through this synopsis pretty quick as the book is less of an overall story then it is a bunch of incidents tied together, but here we go.  Shy and quiet Matthew and his stern old maid of a sister Marilla Cuthbert have decided to adopt a little boy to help with all the work at Green Gables.  Now that both siblings are getting on in years they think it is the best possible solution.  They send word via a friend and off Matthew goes to pick up their new boy, but imagine his surprise when instead a bright, imaginative chatter box of a girl awaits him instead.  He brings her home and after a bit of thought he and Marilla decide to keep her.  Almost instantly this poor little orphan red-head who insists her name be spelled Anne with an E gets herself into trouble.  The first sign of her over the topness comes when Mrs. Rachel Lynde, a well meaning, sharp tongued gossip calls Anne, homely and ugly and Anne flies of the handle.  Her apology turns out to be the most elaborate and eloquent speech anybody in little Avonlea has probably ever heard.  She meets her

life long bosom friend Diana Barry and quickly engages this sturdy girl in her imaginary games...sometimes to the point of belief.  They start school together and Anne is humiliated by Gilbert Blythe, a boy in her class who calls her Carrots, because of her hair, causing the temperamental Anne to break a slate over his head.  This and a later completely unfair punishment by a crappy teacher cause Anne to study from home.  During this time Diana is invited over to tea, that Anne is allowed to supervise on her own.  This results in Diana getting drunk when she accidental drinks three glasses of current wine instead what she thought was raspberry cordial.   This latest incident causes the strict Mrs. Barry to ban Diana from being friends with Anne.  Anne goes back to school and soldiers on.  Winter comes and Diana's little sister comes down very sick while her parents are out of town and Anne's quick thinking saves her life and allows her friendship with Diana to be restored.  As Anne grows up, her scrapes become less childish and more of a personal nature.  There is the never ending feud with Gilbert Blythe for top marks in class, her dream of reciting on stage, and a new found ambition of getting through Queens, a school that certifies teachers.  Anne wins the coveted scholarship, but ends up delaying college when her dear Matthew dies, leaving Marilla alone to run the farm.  Gilbert gives up the Avonlea school so Anne can stay at Green Gables, this has the pleasant side effect of finally becoming friends with Anne. Thus ends the first book of our little red headed dreamer.

Of course there is much more to this book, but with the way it is written it is just one incident after another that flows right into the next.  I love the Anne books, especially this first one. I identify with Anne so much, the day dreaming, the love of pretty things, the reading, the horror of the plain and ordinary, the imagining.  Everything about this little girl speaks to me.  I remember first reading these books when I was about 8 years old and thinking "this girl is me....I wish I had red hair".  Now I wasn't a poor orphan, I had two

wonderful parents and a whole ton of siblings, but sometimes when I had to do chores I would pull an Anne and pretend I was :-)  This book is simple,sweet and beautiful and I love reading it any time I am down in the dumps.  Even the sad parts (which are very few and very far between) have a bittersweet wistfulness to them that cannot destroy the positive affect these books have on me.  My only teeny tiny complaint is that it can be a bit repetitive, going back over what was just written and reminding the reader, but it is something I can live with.  I love that Anne is adventurous and smart and at the same time just wants to be pretty and have pretty things.  She is sweet and kind and a chatterbox (my nickname growing up) and impulsive and I love her like she was my bosom friend.  I recommend this to any body down in dumps, or just wants a sweet simple book.  I give it 8 out of 10 carrots
What was one of the first book characters you identified with?  Have you ever changed your appearance to mimic a beloved character?  Does it surprise you at all that I am an incessant chatterbox?