Book – Anne of Green Gables

Book –  Anne of Green Gables

Author: Lucy Maud Montgomery

Score: 7/10
Year: 1908 (original) ;  2014 (this edition) 

Publisher:  Open Road Integrated Media 

ISBN 978-1-4976-5968-1 

Pages 277 

Anne of Green Gables is set in the late 19th century (apparently beginning in June 1876). 

At the start of the novel, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, two middle-aged siblings holding Green Gables, intend to adopt a boy to help on their farm in a fictional town called Avonlea, in Prince Edward Island, Canada. They are mistakenly sent an 11- year old orphan girl, Anne Shirley, whose adventures, reveries, aspirations, schooling, friendships and enmities are followed in this coming-of-age story, spanning a period of about 5 and a half years.

Lucy Maud's landscape descriptions are beautiful, her prose is flowery, fluid and fast-paced to read. There are quite a few funny moments where I actually laughed, and a few more tender or sad ones are peppered as well. 

Characterization is quite nice and I grew to like Anne, with her reveries, imagined names for places, her absolute declarations, her temperament and emotional outbursts, her thirst to improve herself and her education are all part and parcel of who she is as this growing teen, and Lucy Maud captures those essential moments and tribulations in Anne's life. I find that Anne's fears and difficulties after being adopted as consequences of her feelings as a kid who isn't liked and often rejected until that point to showcase the trauma that these kids could feel, and though this isn't mentioned anywhere in the book, I, as an adult reader (and sufferer), can imagine. 

There are just a few small issues and personal tastes that make this novel less pleasant : very few meal discussions, a couple racist overtones (sadly very present in novels of the period), the stereotype that Anne, a redhead, has all those tantrums, and has to be taught to be good, in a Christian upbringing, are all aspects that I could do without. Despite these, it was an overall enjoyable and fast read of this classic, which have received 5 sequels, an authorized prequel in 2008, and is included in 3 other novels. 

These stories were adapted to tv animated and live action shows and movies, too numerous to list here, but you'll find all on wiki - though I must warn in case you dislike spoilers, I haven't read the details myself. 

PS I read this an en e-book form, having borrowed officially from an online library, so the page number corresponds to this file.