'Anne of the Island' by L.M. Montgomery

The One with all the Proposals

Anne begins to study at college, along with Gilbert Blythe and Charlie Sloane. She pools resources with three girlfriends, Priscilla, Stella and Philippa, to rent a charming little house called Patty's Place. Stella's elderly aunt Jamesina comes to be their house mother. During her years of study, Anne receives no less than six marriage proposals! She does a bit of dithering and needs some serious romantic course correction before finally ending on a high note with a very swoon-worthy ending.

What I appreciated even more than before.

1) Moving out of our comfort zones is very much the book's early theme. It would have been easy to stay at her beloved Green Gables teaching small schools, but Anne was prepared make the sacrifice of stepping out into the great unknown for a worthy goal, which was getting a tertiary education.

2) The story wasn't all the smooth sailing my youthful bias recalled. A couple of times, Anne's finances were looking too dicey to continue, and she would have needed to withdraw if funds weren't mustered in ways you'll see.

3) The bluestocking shaming of smart girls was well and truly over. Phil says she aims to get a Math scholarship to impress her boyfriend Jonas, and Aunt Jamesina insinuates that in bygone days, she'd be trying to hide her cleverness rather than flaunting it. Three cheers for a more enlightened era, and for girls with the freedom to use their intelligence.

4) The love affair of Phil and Jonas was so satisfying! What an awesome attraction of different backgrounds which could have filled volumes on its own. I must have glossed over their charm and appeal when I was young. My only complaint this time is that we didn't see far more of these two. If LMM wrote a spin-off just about these two, I'd read it. 

5) Mostly I love the idea of their pooled living arrangement, which they all found so much fun. Each girl went in to Patty's Place knowing full well that it would be a temporary arrangement. Life does seem to come to us in seasons or blocks like that. When we've lived long enough, we can start to step back and observe each of them more objectively. I felt very sad when my era of being a homeschooling parent and having our nephew live with us in a great house in the Adelaide Hills came to an end. But this new era of living near the beach now the kids are older has its benefits too.

6) They sure are a bunch of poetry spouting teens. Times have changed, and not necessarily for the better. I'd like to see a resurgence of lovely quotes in normal conversation, not just from young people but from everyone. In our time, it comes across as either weird on one end of the spectrum or super show-offish on the other. Sadly, even those who might feel inclined would choose to keep their mouths shut.  

7) We have a wonderfully romantic ending. It's what I call ending a book on a high crescendo (sigh of satisfaction). I've read somewhere that LMM found writing romantic bits never came naturally to her. She far preferred comic moments. Well, I'm glad she pushed past her comfort zone sometimes. 

What I wasn't a big fan of this time round.

1) The attempt to bump off poor Rusty. I can't believe the girls tried to chloroform a poor, affectionate cat who did no crime other than taking a fancy to Anne. My feline loving heart says nope, that's not on! I know the times were different back then, but I found it hard to think of the Patty's Place household as lovely young women again after that 😾

2) Why did they all have to pay out poor Charlie Sloane for his goggle eyes every time he came up in the conversation? It was getting really, really old. L.M. Montgomery shoveled on the shaming, and it probably separates books of this era from modern novels. I remember an editor of mine once told me not to have a girl call another character 'Big Ears.' We don't go in for shaming of body parts any more. That might be something mildly positive about our ultra-sensitive PC era. I only realised it after getting fed up with all the digs at poor Charlie's expense. 

3) Anne's dog-in-the-manger attitude regarding Gilbert gets a bit old too. For years she swept him firmly aside to Friend Zone, yet she'd instantly turn frosty and take offence if some innocent by-stander remarked that he was cute. Phil Gordon calls Anne out on this, commenting that she's mighty reactive for a girl who doesn't want to date him herself. It's so true! I know her behaviour is fun to read, but wouldn't you get mildly irritated if you had a friend who really behaved like this?   

Some great quotes.
Mrs Rachel Lynde (speaking of a new minister candidate): He says he doesn't believe all the heathen will be eternally lost. The idea! If they won't, all the money we've been giving to foreign missions will be clean wasted, that's what!

Aunt Jamesina: I don't believe Old Nick can be so very ugly. He wouldn't do so much harm if he was. I always think of him as a rather handsome gentleman.

Aunt Jamesina: The teens are such a nice part of life, I'm glad I've never got out of them myself.

Anne: If the fact that we are faithful can be truthfully inscribed on our tombstones, nothing more need to be added.

Stay tuned, because next up will be Anne of Windy Willows