LMM Project - Anne of Green Gables

**Image from Megan Follows iconic performance as Anne in the 1985 Kevin Sullivan production.

THIS.....BOOK.....IS.....SIMPLY…..THE…...BEST!

"Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world."

My wish is that everyone on the planet has a book like this in their lives – a book you can read over and over again, a book that makes you feel instantly comforted and that each reading reveals something new. After taking on this project – to read all of Montgomery’s work – I began to get nervous. There were some duds to get through that had me doubting, but then my experience with Emily bolstered my confidence and I approached Anne with a great deal of enthusiasm. And as such it wouldn’t really have surprised me if I had been let down - if I had found nothing of relevance for my current life. Of course I would always love it for what it gave me ‘back then’, but what if I’d outgrown Anne?

“There's such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I'm such a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn't be half so interesting.”

In past readings I’ve identified strongly with Anne. She is not a mirror image of me - we’re quite different really, but she was and still is a true kindred spirit. Some (unkind and misguided) people accuse Anne of Mary Sue-ism and I admit that after many years I had built Anne up in my mind to almost mythic proportions. So much so that I was surprised to find her such a flawed little creature. Certainly she has her positive qualities, but it’s her negative traits that really make her so relatable. She is stubborn, proud, absent minded and vain (just to name a few)! And what I really love is the implication that by the end of the book it isn’t that she’s changed so much as she’s grown and learned how to channel her passion, intelligence and energy in more constructive ways.

"I'm not a bit changed--not really. I'm only just pruned down and branched out. The real ME--back here--is just the same."

But what really surprised me during this re-read was how much I identified with Marilla! Huh? Well, the fact of the matter is that this is the first time I’ve read this book being a mother myself. I just remember thinking Marilla was so harsh and I never really appreciated her special journey - how she and Anne come to a place of mutual affection and understanding by the end of the book. It’s so gradual and subtle and so infinitely true. It is the most realistic representation of the mother/daughter relationship I’ve seen in all of LMM’s work and maybe even the wide world of literature. For me this is the first time I’ve acknowledged that this is just as much Marilla’s story as it is Anne’s. I love how the depth of her love for Anne terrifies her, how she frets over Anne’s sensitive little heart and fears she will never find the words to express what Anne means to her.

At that moment Marilla had a revelation. In the sudden stab of fear that pierced her very heart she realized what Anne had come to mean to her. She would have admitted that she liked Anne--nay, that she was very fond of Anne. But now she knew as she hurried wildly down the slope that Anne was dearer to her than anything else on earth.

And then there’s Matthew – dear, dear Matthew. How can you not love him? How he knows from day one that Anne is meant to stay at Green Gables. How he delights in just listening to Anne’s ramblings. How he finds his own little ways of showing Anne how much she means to him despite Marilla’s warning not to ‘put his oar in’. He reminds me so much of my own father – shy, kind and just innately wise with infinite reserves of patience, encouragement and unconditional love.

"You've been working too hard today, Matthew," she said reproachfully. "Why won't you take things easier?"

"Well now, I can't seem to," said Matthew, as he opened the yard gate to let the cows through. "It's only that I'm getting old, Anne, and keep forgetting it. Well, well, I've always worked pretty hard and I'd rather drop in harness."

"If I had been the boy you sent for," said Anne wistfully, "I'd be able to help you so much now and spare you in a hundred ways. I could find it in my heart to wish I had been, just for that."

"Well now, I'd rather have you than a dozen boys, Anne," said Matthew patting her hand. "Just mind you that-- rather than a dozen boys. Well now, I guess it wasn't a boy that took the Avery scholarship, was it? It was a girl--my girl--my girl that I'm proud of."

What’s so frustrating is that if I describe this book to someone who hasn’t read it – spunky red headed orphan is mistakenly adopted by elderly brother and sister who grow to love her – it sounds soooo unbelievably trite and sentimental. But that’s what makes this book so remarkable – there’s not even the whiff of schmaltziness about this book. Anne’s hunger and quest for love and acceptance is universal. Her struggles and foibles are real and relatable. Her ambition and growth are admirable. Experiencing all of this with her is as close to transcendence as it gets for me.

"Anne always remembered the silvery, peaceful beauty and fragrant calm of that night. It was the last night before sorrow touched her life; and no life is ever quite the same again when once that cold, sanctifying touch has been laid upon it."

Finally, as I read this I realized that my three favorite books all feature child protagonists (Anne of Green Gables, To Kill A Mockingbird, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn). What does that say about me? I’m inclined to think that it’s something not entirely flattering. But then again I think that the world might be a better place if we all took time to consider the world from a child’s point of view.

"And people laugh at me because I use big words. But if you have big ideas you have to use big words to express them, haven't you?"