Anne of Green Gables

The First book in the Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery

Synopsis: When Marilla Cuthbert and her brother, Matthew, decide to adopt a child from a distant orphanage, they don’t get quite what they bargained for. The child who awaits them at the tiny Bright River train station is not the strapping young boy they’d imagined–someone to help Matthew work the fields of their small farm–but rather a freckle-faced, redheaded girl named Anne (with an e, if you please). Matthew and Marilla may not be sure about Anne, but Anne takes one look at Prince Edward Island’s red clay roads and the Cuthberts’ snug white farmhouse with its distinctive green gables and decides that she’s home at last. But will she be able to convince Marilla and Matthew to let her stay? Armed with only a battered carpetbag and a boundless imagination, Anne charms her way into the Cuthberts’ hearts.

First of all… Matthew is Marilla’s brother!? I just realized that while I typed out the description… I went through the whole book assuming they were married.. that may change the entire story. Why did a brother and sister adopt a kid together? What?! Second, I honestly didn’t know this was a series. I’ll have to look for the next one to see what happens.

Okay, so Anne..She’s quite fanciful and flighty and honestly weird as all hell. I’ve never read these books, never seen the movie or even the TV show…I went into this without really knowing who Anne of Green Gables was.. well no, I knew who she was but I didn’t realize how weird she was or what her story was about. All I knew is that she had red hair, she was Canadian and that my auntie liked this story growing up —brief pause while I realize that I’m posting a review of my aunts favourite book on her birthday. That’s fun. I don’t know if she reads my reviews but if she does…Happy Birthday Auntie!— but I really enjoyed her weirdness. As a person who also has an overactive imagination, she’s so relatable.

I was surprised by the writing, I didn’t actually really like how it was written. The story spans a five year timeframe, which is actually quite a bit of time for such a short book. So it’s a lot of skipping and skimming over years at a time, with a few stories thrown in about her growing…but that made the entire book almost feel like more like a growing up montage instead of a full story.

However I do love the time period, the way they act, the clothes, and the mannerisms so it was a fun read! I just wish it would have settled on a shorter timeframe and given more substance to the story. Maybe it was building up for a more solid story in the next books? But something about the book just felt so wholesome that it’s hard not to enjoy. I can see why this is a classic and a favourite of many canadian girls!

I rate this book

7/10

HAVE A FAMTABULOTASTIC DAY

xoxo