Have you met Anne before? If you have, then you know exactly what this book is going to do. If like me this is the first time of meeting Anne, despite some vague recollection of a television programme whilst growing up then you are in for a delight.
Anne Shirley, the chatterbox redhead arrives at Green Gables and into brother and sister, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert lives. They were expecting a young boy to come and be some sort of help to them on their farm. There seems to have been some sort of mix up and the hard hearted Marilla wants to send Anne back.
But as Anne infiltrates both Green Gables and Marilla’s heart with her constant chattering and wildly imaginative stories it seems Anne has finally found her home and people to love her.
We see Anne moved into her late teens and develop and grow away from the imagination that captures her and us as readers at the beginning of the story. She gets into lots of scrapes along the way, “There’s such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I’m such a troublesome person”. Some of them are quite funny when you read this with an adults point of view and life experience but it is such a gentle book you escape into this past age, where everything seemed to be simple and joy was found in the most simple things.
I confess it did take me a while to adjust to Anne’s constant chatter and I did want to strangle her on occasions for her chattering but actually if you look past this, Anne is a girl who is struggling to come to terms with growing up and realising the responsibility that comes with being an adult, “That’s the worst of growing up, and I’m beginning to realise it. The things you wanted so much when you were a child don’t seem half so wonderful to you when you get them”.
I surprised myself by enjoying this as I thought I was going to get something overtly twee and over the top. I only wish now I had read it as a child because I know I would have enjoyed growing up with Anne.
This was a choice for my book club. Out of all of us, only one had read it and had recently devoured them all and was shocked to know we had not read them. Which is how we came to choose the book, we needed two book as we had a break in March as one of our members was busy having a baby.
I am not sure if I will continue to read more about Anne, I did look up exactly what happens to Anne in subsequent novels to get an idea, but I feel I have been cheated by not reading them as a girl. As an adult I am sure they will not feel the same.
The Book Jotter 