Or 'The One with all the Kids'
When we last saw Anne and Gilbert, they were rejoicing in their one beloved baby boy, not long after the loss of the daughter who didn't live out the day she was born. But Gilbert suggests they upgrade to a more spacious house closer to town. It's a good thing they did, because a mere six years later, they're expecting baby #6. In this book, we become acquainted with all the young Blythe kids, as we become flies on Ingleside's walls.
What I loved even more than before.
1) Lucy Maud was super clued-up on how children tick, and the Blythe kids' headspaces are fun and original places to visit. I think I love the boys best. (As I mention further down, the Blythe parents themselves shouldn't have favourites, but we readers are allowed to.) Jem is a vibrant, active lad with a flair for drama and throwing himself wholeheartedly into life. Walter has a brilliant, poetic imagination, and might nowadays be considered an Indigo child. We're told his ancient soul knows too much for his young brain to comprehend. And Shirley is most famous for never being highlighted in any specific incident. That boy is a consummate attention-dodger. Just too down-to-earth to do anything worthy of a yarn, perhaps. I wonder what LMM thought, since she was the one who withheld the spotlight from him.
Talking about the Blythe boys, the foreshadowing is none too subtle. Montgomery had already completed the rest of the series by the time she backtracked to write Anne of Ingleside, and her main purpose seems to be to fill in some time gaps in the Blythe kids' early years. Whoa, she doesn't hold back from dropping some very broad and grim hints of what's in store. It's no spoiler at this stage to say we're clear that Jem, Walter and Shirley are heading off to war in their none too distant future. And one of them isn't coming back!
The girls are very cool too, and Nan is probably up there with her brothers as a favourite of mine. She appears a bit distant and haughty to outsiders, but is merely enjoying the wild world she conjures in her own head. Practical, sensible Di has rotten luck at choosing decent, loyal friends. And the baby Rilla is born near the start of the book, and becomes everyone's princess.
2) I like the multi-faceted nature of the book, as we get glimpses into the lives of many different people. For example, the story of the bitter, morbid women at Peter Kirk's funeral has a way different tone to the incident when cute little Rilla was too self-conscious to walk down the street with a cake. I suspect books like this might never even be published today, as editors might decide the author has no idea of her target audience. But I can't help wondering if modern novels swing too far the other way, and lack this presentation of people from all stages and walks of life, which results in very rigid, genre-bound readers.
3) Anne's deep satisfaction with life as a stay-at-home-mum gets big thumbs up from me. She makes the lifestyle come across as a work of fine art, requiring all sorts of wisdom, sensitivity and insight to pull off. I'm sad about the many fellow reviewers I've read who think she's sacrificed her unique identity and ambition to become a boring housewife who's chained to the sink. Even my daughter took that view of things during a discussion we had. But these ladies don't seem to realise that they're echoing the digs of Christine Stuart in the last chapter.
Get ready for a string of exclamation marks, as I feel strongly about this. Anne was an orphan! Living under a roof with a large family of her own was always the ultimate dream! And she achieved it! She expressed her joy with the way life panned out in so many different ways! Anyone who can't be happy for her might be denying a woman the right to work out her own destiny in a way that suits her to a tee!
4) Susan Baker! What a good old stick.
5) The accidental way Anne manages to finally get rid of Gilbert's aunt Mary Maria, who's way overstayed her welcome. Fantastic!
6) The last couple of chapters is a revelation that not even Anne is immune from having to guard her mind, and that full-on bad moods develop quickly from stinking thinking. It doesn't even have to be true to be powerful. Interesting stuff.
What I was on the fence about.
1) Is there a Brady Bunch style formula happening here? As a little kid of the 1970s, I couldn't help noticing parallels, including droll housekeepers (Susan/Alice) who love them all unconditionally. They're both 6 kid families with boy/girl splits, and each child taking turns at the centre of some drama which their parents help them overcome. (Well, everyone except the ever elusive Shirley.) In this case, that's mostly Anne, since Gilbert is an overworked local doctor. An old high school teacher of mine loathed The Brady Bunch because it was trite in his opinion, and never helped young viewers accept the existence of insoluble problems.
I honestly think Anne of Ingleside escapes a similar quick fix-it stigma, because Anne does face a few of those sticky issues, especially from threads involving Jem and Diana. Jem suffers heartache when he loses two beloved pet dogs under different circumstances, and Di's faith in human nature takes a beating after exposing two false friends she'd trusted completely. Anne knows she can do no more than offer her deepest sympathy, and a shoulder to cry on while they process grief as best they can. She also embodies the assurance that there will always be beauty and fresh tomorrows in life. What more can we ask for from a mother?
What I wasn't a fan of this time round.
1) The favouritism factor is something that never fails to shock me. Especially after the birth of Rilla when Anne says, 'All our babies were sweet, Gilbert, but she is the sweetest of them all.' She drops that one right in front of Walter! But I guess it's just the way LMM rolls. Di is Gilbert's favourite, Shirley is Susan's favourite, and Jem is Aunt Marilla's favourite. Nobody seems the least put out about it ever. But sheesh! I cringe every time.
2) The chapter with the ladies quilting day is rather on the long side. Young Walter's cameo appearance toward the tail end of it is priceless, but it's a tedious road to get there.
Some great quotes to take on board.
She would hold all the threads of Ingleside life in her hands again to weave into a tapestry of beauty.
Anne: Gilbert is always a little depressed when he loses a patient he thinks ought to have lived. (Haha, I would sure hope so.)
It's the little things that fret the holes in life, like moths, and ruin it.
Nan: I'm in the habit of believing people.
Mrs Six-Toed Jimmy: Well, it's a habit you'd better get out of in this kind of a world.
There was always change. Well, that was life. Gladness and pain, hope and fear. You had to let the old go and take the new to your heart, learn to love it, then let it go in return.
Anne: An imagination is a wonderful thing to have, but like every gift, we must possess it and not let it possess us. I know that rapture. But you must learn to keep on this side of the borderline between the real and the unreal. Then the power to escape at will into a beautiful world of your own will help you amazingly through the hard places of life. I can always solve a problem more easily after I've had a voyage or two to the Islands of Enchantment.
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