Anne of the Island.

L. M. Montgomery follows her beloved heroine out of Avonlea and into the wider world in this warm, funny and quietly wise instalment of the Anne series.

What it's about

Anne of the Island finds Anne Shirley leaving Green Gables for four years at Redmond College, where she shares a cheerful household with old friends and new, matures in her studies and her writing, and fields a string of suitors with characteristic spirit. Between the comedy of unwanted proposals and the sorrows of change, Anne slowly comes to understand her own heart and the difference between romance imagined and love that is real. Familiar figures return and new ones enter as she moves toward the close of her girlhood.

Themes

Growing up is the book's great subject, the passage from a dreamy, bookish girlhood into self-knowledge and adult love. Friendship, ambition, home and the gap between fancy and reality all shape Anne's coming of age.

Why it still matters

Montgomery's Anne has enchanted readers for over a century with her imagination, her humour and her fierce attachment to beauty. This college-years volume deepens her, giving the series' devotees the story of how Anne finds her way to love.

Who it's for

For lovers of Anne and of Prince Edward Island, for readers of coming-of-age fiction, and for anyone who wants gentle wit paired with real feeling.

Sources and references

Verified references for this edition: Open Library, WorldCat.