Genre: Juvenile fiction/Coming-of-age
Copy: Paperback
Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕
Synopsis: As soon as Anne Shirley arrives at the snug white farmhouse called Green Gables, she is sure she wants to stay forever . . . but will the Cuthberts send her back to the orphanage? Anne knows she’s not what they expected—a skinny girl with fiery red hair and a temper to match. If only she can convince them to let her stay, she’ll try very hard not to keep rushing headlong into scrapes and blurting out the first thing that comes to her mind. Anne is not like anyone else, the Cuthberts agree; she is special—a girl with an enormous imagination. This orphan girl dreams of the day when she can call herself Anne of Green Gables.
Five reasons to read the book:
1) Anne Shirley. If there is only one character I wish I could ever be, that would be the beloved Anne with an E. Everything about her ─ thoughts, words, actions ─ is charming and you just can’t help but fall in love with this little redhead. Anne does not only change the lives of the people around, her but the people reading her story as well.
2) The journey. All the books in this series takes one on a journey of growth. L.M. Montgomery writes poetically, but she does not gloss over reality with it. Many ups and downs are put into spotlight as you follow Anne’s life as an orphan girl, a teen, an adult and, finally, a mother.
3) The cast. You get to meet a number of lively characters throughout the series. Some of them you will like, some you won’t. Some of them becomes your kindred spirit, some will challenge your perception/belief. Some people carry stories that will break your heart while others will give you a glimpse of new experiences. Anne of Green Gables is an amalgam of POVs that you would not want to miss.
4) The lessons. The series teem with lessons about life, love and everything in between. L.M. Montgomery writes realistic dialogues and a lot of points to ponder are exchanged among characters. The lessons, told through Anne’s amusing scrapes and romantic notions, will have you looking at life with a positive disposition.
5) The setting. From the beautiful Green Gables country home in Book 1 to the old Morgan place where the Blythe family finally settled in Book 8, Anne will make you see the beauty of nature and life through her keen eyes and extraordinary imagination. I love how L.M Montgomery took her time with the specifics and details of each location. Definitely a new addition to your list of favorite fictional places.
Highlighted Quotes: (Book 1 to Book 8)
“Dear old world’, she murmured, ‘you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you.”
“The world calls them its singers and poets and artists and storytellers; but they are just people who have never forgotten the way to fairyland.”
“I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.”
“That is one good thing about this world…there are always sure to be more springs.”
“It will come sometime. Some beautiful morning she will just wake up and find it is Tomorrow. Not Today but Tomorrow. And then things will happen … wonderful things.”
“There is so much in the world for us all if we only have the eyes to see it, and the heart to love it, and the hand to gather it to ourselves.”
“You were never poor as long as you had something to love.”
“Gilbert darling, don’t let’s ever be afraid of things. It’s such dreadful slavery. Let’s be daring and adventurous and expectant. Let’s dance to meet life and all it can bring to us, even if it brings scads of trouble and typhoid and twins!”
“Even when I’m alone I have real good company — dreams and imaginations and pretendings.”
“I suppose all this sounds very crazy — all these terrible emotions always do sound foolish when we put them into our inadequate words. They are not meant to be spoken — only felt and endured.”
“Well, that was life. Gladness and pain…hope and fear…and change. Always change! You could not help it. You had to let the old go and take the new to your heart…learn to love it and then let it go in turn. Spring, lovely as it was, must yield to summer and summer lose itself in autumn. The birth…the bridal…the death…”
“Time is kinder than we think,’ thought Anne. ‘It’s a dreadful mistake to cherish bitterness for years…hugging it to our hearts like a treasure.”
“It is never quite safe to think we have done with life. When we imagine we have finished our story fate has a trick of turning the page and showing us yet another chapter.”
“Being frightened of things is worse than the things themselves.”
“The body grows slowly and steadily but the soul grows by leaps and bounds. It may come to its full stature in an hour.”
“Dream after dream comes true—or rather is made true by persevering effort.”
Final Thoughts: Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montomgery’s classic eight-book series, will forever be my favorite go-to read. All thanks to its hopelessly romantic, impulsive and overly dramatic red-headed heroine, Anne Shirley. This beloved Anne with an E heightened my love of the natural world and opened my eyes to the little things in life that truly matter. It reminded me the importance of love, friendship, family and chasing my dreams with enthusiasm, colorful imagination and fierce passion. Throughout the entire series, I felt like I grew with Anne. I was able to see life through her poetic eyes and take her delightful musings with me in the real world. Whenever I am short on motivation to move forward, I turn to Anne of Green Gables for a dose of positivity, inspiration and insight.
Have you read Anne of Green Gables series? Did you like it as much as I did?
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