Book Review: Anne of Windy Poplars

I am participating in Carrie‘s third annual Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading Challenge and finished Anne of Windy Poplars, the fourth in her Anne of Green Gables series.

In this book, Anne and Gilbert are engaged (sorry if that is a spoiler for anyone, but most people who are at all familiar with the books or films are aware that they do eventually marry), but Gilbert has three years of medical school left, so Anne takes the position of a principal at Summerside High during those three years. It’s far enough away that she can’t live at home, yet close enough to visit Avonlea over weekends. As Anne adjusts to her new job, living arrangements, and community, she finds that she is up against a couple of unexpected foes: sarcastic, brittle coworker Katherine, and the entire Pringle clan, the leading family who seems to run much of the town. One of the Pringle relatives was up for the job that was given to Anne, so immediately they are all against her. Most of her students are Pringles or half-Pringles who make her job especially difficult.

Yet Anne finds unexpected treasures in little Elizabeth, a neighbor girl in a strictly controlled loveless home, and various characters she meets, and she sets herself to change the tide of the Pringle sentiments and win Katherine’s friendship.

Even though I am an Anne fan, I have to say this is not my favorite of the first four books, for several reasons:

• We see very little of the old Avonlea characters.
• We see very little of Gilbert even though they are now engaged.
• Much of the book is written in the form of Anne’s letters to Gilbert. A few would have been fine, and even though Anne’s letters are long and more narrative than we usually see these days…it’s just not as enjoyable as reading a story.
• Anne seems a little….overbearing and almost smug at times in her setting people straight.
• There seems to be a little more meanness than in the other books. There have always been gossipers and snipes who are generally the antagonists in LMM’s books,  but they just seemed a little more caustic this time. For example, one girl says to Anne, “Amy hates you because she wanted to be my bridesmaid. But I couldn’t have anyone so fat and dumpy now, could I?” Even Anne said, “If I stayed any longer I’d either go crazy or slap Mrs. Gibson’s nutcracker face.”

However many moons ago I first read the Anne books, I then found everything else by Lucy Maud Montgomery I could read, and found a couple of books of her short stories. I don’t remember the titles now, but I remember thinking she was almost better at shorter stories than full-length books. This books almost seems like a collection of short stories. There are plot threads running throughout of Anne’s interactions with the Pringles, Katherine, and the ladies Anne boards with, but many of the chapters focus on isolated individuals or families. Some of their situations are comedic, some tragic. Almost all of them have some problem they want Anne to help with — or that she decides to help with unasked. She “begins to suspect…[she] is an inveterate meddler in other people’s business — always with excellent intentions, of course.” Some people like all the excess characters. I enjoyed some of them but I could have done with a few less.

But despite those caveats, there is much of the old Anne-ishness there. It was good to see her maturing and even getting into a “scrape” or two. Some of the dialogue is wonderful and some of the characters, particularly Katherine and Elizabeth, excellently drawn.

The only other quote I marked from the book was this: “Sarcasm, in man or woman, was the one weapon Anne dreaded. It always hurt her…raised blisters on her soul that smarted for months.” Such an apt description. May I always be careful of blistering anyone’s soul.

I’m curious: have you read this installment of Anne, and did you like it?

(This review will also be linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday review of books.)