Anne of Green Gables
by: Lucy Maud Montgomery
When Marilla Cuthbert's brother, Matthew, returns home to Green Gables with a chatty redheaded orphan girl, Marilla exclaims, "But we asked for a boy. We have no use for a girl." It's not long, though, before the Cuthberts can't imagine how they could ever do without young Anne of Green Gables--but not for the original reasons they sought an orphan. Somewhere between the time Anne "confesses" to losing Marilla's amethyst pin (which she never took) in hopes of being allowed to go to a picnic, and when Anne accidentally dyes her hated carrot-red hair green, Marilla says to Matthew, "One thing's for certain, no house that Anne's in will ever be dull." And no book that she's in will
be, either. There's just enough to make beginning readers want more--luckily, there's a lot more in the originals! Illustrator Ellen Beier creates vibrant pictures to portray the beauty of the land around Green Gables and the spirited nature of Anne herself
Plot Overview:
Matthew Cuthbert and Marilla Cuthbert are unmarried siblings who live on their ancestral farm, Green Gables, in the quiet town of Avonlea on Prince Edward Island, Canada. Since Matthew is getting older - he is sixty years old - the Cuthberts decide to adopt an orphan boy to help with the farm work, much to the shock of the town gossip, Mrs. Rachel Lynde, who does not think they are fit to raise a child.
The orphan's name is Anne Shirley, a loquacious, happy red-headed girl. Though she lacks social graces and manners, and has never been educated, she has a rich and sophisticated fantasy life, and she has an optimistic and generous spirit. She defies Avonlea's conception of little girls, by committing faux pas like attending church for the first time wearing a wreath of wild flowers, or screaming at Mrs. Lynde for making fun of her red hair. Anne tries hard to oblige Marilla and her rules of social conduct, but she makes many mistakes: she uses liniment instead of vanilla in a cake; she lets a mouse drown in the plum pudding sauce; and she delivers a ridiculous prayer on her first attempt to practice religion.
Anne's lonely life before Green Gables provided no playmates, so she was forced to invent them. At Avonlea, she meets Diana Barry who quickly becomes her bosom friend and shares her flights of fancy and adventures in the woods. One afternoon, when she has invited Diana to tea, she accidentally gives Diana red currant wine instead of non-alcoholic raspberry cordial, and Diana returns home drunk. Her mother, thinking that Anne had maliciously intoxicated Diana, forbids the girls to speak, a separation that causes them unbearable grief. The agonizing period of estrangement lasts until Anne saves Diana's sister, who is very sick with the croup.
As Anne grows up, she loses some of her childish flare for the melodramatic and romantic, and turns her spirited attentions to academics. Her beloved teacher, Miss Stacy, recognizes her intelligence and encourages her to join a special group of students preparing for the entrance exam to Queen's College. Her longstanding competition with Gilbert Blythe changes to a affectionate and familiar rivalry, when after four years of mutual silence, they go off to Queen's College together. Striving to make Matthew and Marilla proud, Anne devotes herself to her studies wholeheartedly - a complete change from her childhood frivolity - and earns the prestigious Avery award, which grants her enough money to attend a four-year college the following fall.
Thrilled by her future prospects, Anne goes home to Green Gables. Matthew, who has been having heart trouble, dies of a heart attack, leaving Anne to suffer her first meaningful loss. When she hears that Marilla is likely to go blind, she decides to stay at Green Gables and teach nearby so that she can care for Marilla, giving up her aspirations for the four-year degree. Her rival, Gilbert, hears of her decision, and gives up his post as teacher at Avonlea school so that Anne can teach there and be closer to Marilla. After five years of silence, Gilbert and Anne forge a close friendship. Though her future path has narrowed considerably, Anne is eternally optimistic and imagines a new future beckoning with mystery.
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