'Anne of Windy Willows' by L.M. Montgomery

Or 'The One with the Two Titles'

After finishing Uni, Anne acquires the position of principal teacher at Summerside High School, and lives in a wonderful old-fashioned boarding house with a pair of hospitable widows and their charismatic hired lady. She contends with the Pringles, who consider themselves the Royal family of the district. They're throwing a collective tantrum because their relative's application for the job was passed over in favour of Anne. In the town are plenty of wistful wannabe brides and cantankerous senior women, both LMM's specialties. The Canadian and USA title is Anne of Windy Poplars. It is called Anne of Windy Willows only in the UK, Japan and Australia. My bit of nosing around the internet reveals that the Windy Willows version was always LMM's preferred choice, but her publisher objected on account of its similar sound to Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows.  

What I enjoyed more than ever before.

1) Rebecca Dew! The hired lady at Windy Willows is a legend who's described by one man as 'a nice old cat if you stroke her the right way.' She has none of the trappings we women are often urged to aim for (beauty, marriage, education) but that doesn't bother Rebecca at all. Her delightful shrewdness more than compensates for the lack of these things. I enjoyed all of her blunt observations, not to mention her physical presence. As soon as Anne described her as a 40-something tomato with bright, beady eyes and a snub nose, I knew I'd love this lady. Her love/hate relationship with Dusty Miller the cat is one of the highlights for me.  

2) Katherine Brooke! The softening of Anne's dowdy and grim deputy principal really touched me this time round. Jealous characters can be quite cathartic, since it's an emotion we're taught to sweep under the carpet, and it turns out Katherine is jealous of Anne in every respect. It's easy to look at a person like Katherine and brush off her misery as self inflicted, but that's always short-sighted. Other peoples' shabby treatment of Katherine throughout her life helped shape her bitter attitude, and there's no point denying it. That's often the case for the rest of us too, and it always saddens me to see anyone swallow well-meant guilt trips along the lines of, 'Your sour mind is your own fault.' 

But having said that, our own thoughts are the cure, and Anne's simple prescription is really full of power. 'You can put hate out of your mind. Cure yourself of it.' Their holiday break at Green Gables was one of the most satisfying Christmas sections in a book I've read in a long time. It was great to see Katherine discover that simple things of beauty with the potential to heal us are abundantly available to most of us, no matter how bruised our pasts have left us.  

3) Little Elizabeth Grayson! This loving little girl is forced to live a hushed life with a pair of impatient old crones. She daydreams about her absentee Dad and dreams for a better tomorrow. I like how she switches the different versions of her name to suit the mood she's in. On any given day, she might be Betsy, Beth, Elsie or Betty, but rarely Lizzie, which is reserved for the bleakest moments ever. Personally, I rather like Lizzie these days, as much as all those others.

4) Anne's daring streak really stands out for me this time. She cares enough about her friends to take big risks on their behalf which most of us wouldn't dare contemplate. It's easy to justify doing nothing by claiming it's none of our business, so Anne's bold meddling is super satisfying and pays off big time. Her kindness and courage combine to make one super power. Maybe many of us have only one or the other, but part of Anne's secret is having both.  

5) The Prince Edward Island environment is an understated hero all through the book. We're always getting the salty tang of the sea and seeing the people weave their harbours, bays, headlands and gulfs into their social lives. There are rowing jaunts, shore bonfires, rock dances, clam bakes and other fun things. It makes me consider how my own coastal city I call home is woven into my identity.  

6) These folk lived in an era of patience and expertise which impresses me. I love it when Aunt Chatty of Windy Willows gets hold of Sarah Pringle's delicious pound cake recipe. That recipe really is a big deal, requiring 36 eggs and three days of 'sweating', wrapped in brown paper and towels. No wonder Rebecca Dew comments that they might be able to afford it about once a year. In our generation of instant gratification, including twenty minute flat cake mixes, I do appreciate references to such full-on dedication to the household arts. 

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

1) Dare I say it, I'd like a dollar for every time Anne thinks about or mentions her B.A. degree. I was wishing I could tell her I've got one too, and in my era it's not such a big deal. In fact, it's often the source of mirth. I've heard many jokes along the lines of, 'What did the Arts graduate say to the Engineering graduate? The answer is, 'Would you like fries with these?' What would Anne think of an era where her proud achievement alone so often leads to a dead end, since it put her straight in line for a plum job? I wonder if my perspective would deflate her ego, which sometimes seems as puffed up as those sleeves she used to long for! 

2) Along similar lines, her smug tone can get irritating. As a prime example, her student Lewis says, 'I wonder where this Dawlish Road goes to.' Anne replies, 'I might be horrid and school-teacherish and say that it doesn't go anywere; it stays right here. But I won't.' That response got an eye-roll from me. How I wish he'd replied, 'Well, if we're really splitting hairs, you just did.'  

3) I wonder if I'm the only one who'd agree Little Elizabeth's thread was concluded far too quickly.  LMM dashed off the finish of her story toward the end with a bit of heavy-handed and unnecessary melodrama. (Did anyone else get the feeling she just wanted to finish writing the book at this point?) But it didn't stop me wondering what the future held in store for this girl who Anne described as a sensitive Aolean harp, so finely tuned to any breeze of sympathy. 

4) The number of characters who pass through and then never appear again, is bewildering. Yet they each claim to love Anne with great devotion. LMM is back to the episodic plot structure that worked so well in Anne of Green Gables. I discovered that this is one of the books she wrote down the track, long after she thought she'd finished with Anne entirely. The main reason was to give her fans what they demanded, which was more of the format which originally took off so well. Yet I think it makes Anne of Windy Willows feel more at times like a disparate short story collection connected by one character than a novel with a fulfilling arc of its own.    

Some great quotes to take on board.

Anne: I don't like reading about martyrs, because they always make me feel petty and ashamed to admit I hate to get out of bed on frosty mornings and shrink from a visit to the dentist.

Aunt Mouser: After all, even if you aren't very happily married, it's likely you'd be more unhappy not.

Anne: Nobody is ever too old to wear just what she wants to wear. You wouldn't want to wear it if you were too old. 

Anne: In daylight I belong to the world and in the night to sleep and eternity. But in the dusk I'm free from both and belong only to myself.

Aunt Chatty: I've often wondered why things should be arranged so. Me loving to talk with nothing to talk about, and Kate with everything but hating to talk. But I suppose providence knows best. 

Rebecca Dew: If we were all beauties, who would do the work? 

Cousin Ernestine: I can't seem to get over the thought of marrying a minister for love. I'm afraid it's awful irreverent. 

Anne: One can always find something lovely to look at or listen to.

Stay tuned, because next up Anne and Gilbert finally tie the knot at last, in Anne's House of Dreams.

All the Lonely People - Books with Solitary Protagonists

Books with lonely, solitary protagonists are wonderfully revealing because we're allowed a special glimpse into something that is normally closed off to us. Social, ebullient people leave us in no doubt of what they're thinking and feeling. But the rich, vibrant depth of a lonely person's life is not on display. So as well as offering insight into how loners may tick, this list is intended to extend the balm of friendship to those of us who have ever found ourselves in their situation. I hope my suggestions may even form the basis of a great pile to read back to back for a solitary retreat. I can guarantee you'd find these protagonists most interesting company.

1) Aaliya
This senior lady perseveres year after year with one of the most brainy, yet futile hobbies you can imagine. Each year she translates a great work of literature or philosophy into Arabic, her own native tongue. Aliyah knows it's pointless trying to interest publishers in a project whose market would be minimal. The painstaking treasures go straight into her drawer and never see the light of day. This makes her a great example of somebody for whom the satisfaction of the pursuit is its own reward. She's a bit cantankerous, but her non-impact is very impacting to me. (See my review of An Unnecessary Woman)

2) Stevens
He's a polished professional who has poured every ounce of effort and energy into becoming  what he considers an icon - the quintessential British butler. But he has nothing of himself left over for anything else. Stevens is pretty old before it dawns on him that his personal life has suffered as a result of his all-consuming pride. He learns to his cost as he edges closer to retirement that being the perfect butler leaves no time to become anyone's beloved friend or companion. (See my review of The Remains of the Day)

3) Lucy Snowe
Whoa, what a gal! She has enough passion and strong convictions to fill the Pacific Ocean, and tries almost successfully to contain it all within her own small frame. For Lucy considers herself a plain and penniless orphan whose wisest course is not to interact with others but focus on making her own quiet way in the world. To her fellow characters in Villette, she's an eccentric, prim little oddity. To us readers, she's one of the most restrained, repressed, passive and self-controlled characters to be found within a book's pages. (See my review of Villette)

4) Frankenstein's monster
His is a tragic tale of a curious, exploratory nature turned vengeful and dangerous because of the prejudiced terror with which he's treated, and the unbearable loneliness it creates in him. This smart and emotional fellow has observed the sweetness of human bonding, and would like nothing more than to be anybody's dear friend. When he learns that he repulses people because of his horrific looks, he turns his energy into revenge against his creator, Victor Frankenstein, and Victor's whole family. It's a candid study of human loneliness and alienation at it bleakest. (See my review of Frankenstein)

5) Fanny Price
This girl is one of literature's most celebrated introverts, courtesy of Jane Austen. Shy and diffident by nature, her retiring personality is strengthened even more by being the poor relation in a household of wealthy relatives who make it clear she's their charity case. When bossy, demanding, self-appointed rescuers are breathing down your neck, your self-expression is pretty effectively paralysed. Your teeming thoughts must remain enclosed in your own headspace. Yet this story shows what it takes to cause nervous, obliging Fanny to dig in her heels and stand up for herself. (See my review of Mansfield Park)

6) Jakop Jakopsen
This guy is a more obscure example but a perfect case of what a lonely person may resort to. He attends the funerals of strangers, just to bask in the atmosphere of family togetherness for the duration. Jakop has never known anything like this himself, having been the only child of a preoccupied single mother and bullied by his peers at school. He comes to funerals with made-up tales of how he knew the dear departed. Jakop knows he risks exposure as a fraud but considers it worthwhile for the warm, brief encounters that set him up until the next one. (See my review of An Unreliable Man)

7) Eleanor Oliphant
This young woman has become one of the general public's favourite lonely oddballs of recent times. Crowds of readers have taken blunt, abrasive Eleanor to their hearts, proving that the plight of lonely people must strike a chord with us all. She's revealed as a battler who has survived some shocking events which helped form her into a sharp observer who stands on the periphery of others' lives. This book seems to have become a clarion call to reach out to the people who may be easiest to sweep straight past. (See my review of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine)

I suspect loneliness will always be a problem, because self-absorbed human nature doesn't tend to notice the quiet person watching from corners. Yet book characters help soften the blow. They have the potential to be counted among our friends in a deeper, different way than the flesh and blood people we knock shoulders with. And they are true allies in our quest to avoid being completely drowned in a tidal wave of loneliness. Sometimes the deep and non-threatening evidence that others have shared our exact plight is all we need to square our shoulders, tilt our chins and plug on. 

Are any of these familiar to you? And can you suggest any others who may fit well as another friend on this particular list?   

'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

'The Bee and the Orange Tree' by Melissa Ashley

This keenly-awaited second book from Melissa Ashley, author of The Birdman’s Wife, restores another remarkable, little-known woman to her rightful place in history, revealing the dissent hidden beneath the whimsical surfaces of Marie Catherine’s fairy tales. The Bee and the Orange Tree is a beautifully lyrical and deeply absorbing portrait of a time, a place, and the subversive power of the imagination.

MY THOUGHTS: 

I spotted this beautiful book in tip-top condition on an outdoor bargain table of a second hand bookshop along the coast. You bet I jumped on it! I loved Melissa Ashley's first book, based on the life of nature artist Elizabeth Gould. This book looks just as gorgeous on its cover and end notes. The blurb explains how she brings another overshadowed woman from history's annals to light. Shining light on the obscurity of brilliant, forgotten females seems to be Melissa Ashley's mission, and I couldn't wait to get stuck into it. Sadly, compared to The Birdman's Wife, the story itself fell a bit flat for me. 

There are three main characters whose points of view we shift between throughout the story.

Marie Catherine d'Aulnoy is (really was!!) one of France's celebrated story tellers, with a string of fairy tale volumes to her name. She holds fashionable literary salons in her household, and has a large following. However, she also suffers from writer's block and gout in her feet, two painful thorns which are getting her down since she's jumped the huge hurdle of being able to separate from her no-good husband and support herself financially with her writing. Her latest campaign is an attempt to save her best friend Nicola from execution.

Nicola Tiquet is an elegant socialite, daughter of a great publishing magnate, and victim of domestic violence. Her abusive husband also keeps her imprisoned in her own room. One day, Nicola is arrested for his attempted murder, although she's truly innocent. The trumped-up conspiracy theory faces her like a brick wall, and she's sentenced for beheading unless her friend Marie Catherine is able to use her influence to help. 

Marie Catherine's youngest daughter Angelina was brought up in a convent, but now she's been withdrawn to replace her mother's secretary. Yet although the plan suits her well enough, Angelina nurses resentment toward her mother for leaving her to be brought up by the nuns in the convent for so long. She also has hang-ups about her own life purpose and identity, which she's unable to discuss with anybody until she meets her new friend Alphonse, a talented writer and follower of her mother. Angelina's is very much a story of self-invention and metamorphosis.

Our glimpse into Paris around the turn in the 1700s contains all the right costumes, make-up, transport, food and aromas. The idea of executions being open to general spectators horrifies me. The state and church of the time are shown up as the two bad boys, full of sinister corruption, as Ashley evidently intended. Yet I never felt we were transported entirely to a different time and place, and decided it must be because of the characters. 

I think part of the reason it falls short is that the secretiveness integral to the plot is being held by the three main characters whose points of view we share. This defeats the purpose of having point of view characters, if we're not allowed total access into their head spaces. There is always a feeling with all three that something is being held back, keeping us at arm's length. It works fine with secondary characters, but maybe not with such key characters as these three, especially Marie Catherine. If she's going to hold her hands so close to her chest for so long, then we don't really get to know her, or care for her as much as we otherwise might. 

The romantic dynamics between the pair who turn out to represent the bee and the orange tree is probably the story's highlight. There are a few surprises woven in, but the mutual attraction between Angelina and her mother's young protege Alphonse kept me turning pages. Whether or not Alphonse was a man of his own time, he's definitely a man of ours. It makes quite an interesting thread, although there's not a great deal of substance to the attraction when I really think about it.

Overall, the winding up of all the loose threads left me saying, 'Well, so much for all that.' Having discovered Baroness Marie Catherine d'Aulnoy in history's hidden pages, Melissa Ashley could have chosen to zoom in on any aspect of her brilliant legacy. Her choice to recreate her as a whiny, limpy lady with a lost mojo and dysfunctional family is a bit puzzling. If we ask ourselves, 'Did anything exceptional really happen in this story?' the answer is no. But it was interesting enough to keep reading, and definitely worth the $5 I paid for it. If I'd bought it at the brand new price of $35 though, I might have felt a bit ripped off. 

My favourite line is possibly when Angelina tells her mother, Marie Catherine, 'Imagine I'm a magical mirror. I can reflect your ideas back to you. Help to clarify them even.' What a perfect picture of what an assistant or editor does! In this story of course, Marie Catherine doesn't really find herself in the position to take up her daughter's offer, because she's too stressed about her writer's block. And eventually Angelina withdraws the offer anyway, in favour of striking out on a creative career herself. Still, it's there as a great analogy for anyone who wants to take it on. 

I'll look forward to whatever Melissa Ashley writes next. Everyone's entitled to a miss, and this wasn't a terrible one. 

🌟🌟🌟 

'Anne of Avonlea' by L.M. Montgomery

Or 'The One Where she teaches school.'

Warning: These recaps may contain spoilers, but I consider old classics fair game. This is the second fortnight of my Anne-athon re-read through the entire series.

16-year-old Anne becomes the Avonlea school mistress. She and the other local teens set up the Village Improvement Society, hoping to spruce the place up where they can. Marilla adopts young twins, Davy and Dora Keith, because when their mother dies there is no closer relative. Anne finds time to dabble in a bit of matchmaking between some of her middle-aged neighbours.

What I appreciated even more than before.

1) One specific low key, bosom buddy friendship turned out to have far stronger roots than anyone thought. It's Marilla and Mrs Rachel Lynde. When Rachel's husband dies, it looks as if she'll have to live far away with her daughter, but Marilla steps up and invites her to relocate to Green Gables instead. They know each other well enough to devise methods to withdraw when they need personal space. But Marilla says, 'I'd rather put up with far worse faults than see Rachel go away from Avonlea.' I was really cheering for the pair of them here. It might not spring to our minds, but it's a friendship that rivals Anne and Diana's. 

2) Anne's spoken goal is both modest and great; the sort of thing any of us can aspire to. She says, 'I'd like to add some beauty to life. I don't exactly want to make people know more, but I'd like to make them have a pleasanter time because of me. To have some little joy or happy thought that would never have existed if I hadn't been born.' Bravo, if she can aspire to that in her era without internet or social media, we normal dudes of the 21st century have a far broader platform to make it happen.

3) Gilbert. Whenever he did make an appearance we all appreciated it, but they were surely sparser than many of us liked. Granted he did live away from home teaching at White Sands, which would have taken up a lot of his time. That was the result of his relinquishing the Avonlea school appointment in favour of Anne at the end of the first book. 

4) Mr Harrison. James A is one this book's heroes. Plain, straight-spoken and not concerned about making impressions, he's one of those endearing grumpy old man characters we all appreciate for a good reason. Ginger, his parrot, is a great and colourful pet too, although he has his enemies. 

5) Paul Irving. This gifted kid discovers that those who don't understand his creative and imaginative bent will brush him off as crazy. He learns through experience at a young age that narrow-minded human nature is quick to criticise anything way off its radar, and when you're the target, it hurts. But although he initially wonders if he really is crazy, he decides in favour of keeping up the daydreams that bring him such joy, but being extra cautious about who he shares them with. Yay, that's a major stand for someone who isn't even in his teens yet! I've got to say, Paul's Rock People rock too.     

6) Davy Keith. I adore this little boy for speaking out all the strange, contradictory and puzzling things in the world around him which grown-ups simply expect him to swallow without blinking. He's a person to call out a sacred cow when he sees one, and I'm sure it does adults a world of good to have to consider their replies. Oh boy, I get why Marilla considers him exhausting, especially at first, but what a pay-off she gets with his fresh and original daily observations. They surely help her mind to regain its youthful suppleness. 

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

1) Anne's method of influencing Davy's behaviour by comparing him to Paul Irving is dodgy to say the least, but hey, it worked super effective for her! Still, I'm sure no modern parent or teacher would advise us to do the same. The use of shaming and guilt trips as a means of control may cause resentment, inferiority complexes and other hang-ups which are rarely traced back to the influencers we love and admire. Hopefully Davy dodges these these side-effects in his later years.     

2) Sadly, LMM is never an author to discourage favouritism. Anne's favourite pupil is always abundantly clear to all, but if anyone needs it spelled out, it's Paul Irving! I didn't mind that so much, because he was on her wavelength, but it irritated me a bit that both Anne and Marilla admitted to preferring Davy over Dora. As a former quiet, compliant little girl, that seems a bit rough to me. Sure, she didn't have his sanguine, left of field character, but couldn't they have loved her equally for her own attributes, such as a strong desire to please them?  

3) I really hated the Jonas Day chapter. It was so sadly out of character. Basically, Anne was in a black mood all day and took it out on everyone who happened to be in her path, which doesn't end well when you're the school teacher. I know you might be thinking, 'Everyone's entitled to a bad mood here and there, because we're only human, so cut her some slack.' It's just that being on the receiving end could be so damaging to these kids who looked up to her and didn't have the emotional interpretation skills to reason that it was her problem and not theirs. I can't help wondering if it was PMS, although in no way did LMM suggest this. Those of us who can relate know we must get a handle on it, to prevent blasting out innocent bystanders. Dare I say it, if you can't control your emotions Anne, you shouldn't be teaching school!

Some great quotes

Anne: It does people good to have to do things they don't like... in moderation.

Anne: The bad things nearly always turn out ever so much better than you think. 

Mrs Rachel: You're never safe from being surprised till you're dead.

Anne: There are so many unpleasant things in the world already that there is no use in imagining any more. 

Marilla: It seems to me Anne, that you are never going to outgrow your fashion of having your heart set on things and then crashing down into despair because you don't get them. 

Marilla: Everyone has her own way of living. I used to think there was only one right way, but since I've had you and the twins to bring up, I don't feel so sure of it.

Miss Lavendar Lewis: That's the worst, or the best, of real life, Anne. It won't let you be miserable. It keeps on trying to make you comfortable, and succeeding, even when you're determined to be unhappy and romantic. 

Stayed tuned, because next up will be Anne of the Island